Growing Pains
by CeilidhMae
Summary: Anna, Emilie, Miranda, Alexei, Aniya and Kyle have been best friends for as long as they can remember.At the age of thirteen though, life is about to change, and change quickly. Will the friends make it through or will the go their seperate ways?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Introductions.

**Anna's Point Of View. **

"Anna, kindly explain why your alarm clock is going off at six in the morning! Does the term 'summer break' mean nothing to you?" Emilie complained as she pulled her pillow out from under her head and shoved it over her ears.

"Because it's time for you to get up," I told her as I twisted my long brown hair into a bun and tied it up. Our other friend Miranda was sitting on the end of the bed, nearly doubled over in silent laughter.

"Its six thirty Anna-Marie Ivashkov!" She groaned as she rolled over and sat up. Her bright, electric blue eyes groggy and tired. Emilie wasn't a morning person, unlike Miranda and I who were use to starting the day at this time every morning; we didn't see Emilie till almost nine.

"Stop complaining and get up," Miranda told her with a laugh as she chucked a throw pillow at Emilie.

"Hey!" Emilie screeched as it hit her head.

I doubled over laughing at this, "so much for guardian reflexes Em, you should talk to Kiti about getting some extra training to help with that," I told her with a grin as I studied my reflection.

I'm Anna by the way, Anna-Marie Janine Ivashkov. I'm thirteen years old, just about five feet tall, pale as a Moroi, stocky as a Dhampir. I'm the eldest of seven children and I have long, dark, dark brown hair and dark green eyes. Emilie and Miranda are my best friends, at least here in California. My other two best friends live at the Moroi court in Pennsylvania, but more about them later.

Emilie Ozera and I have been friends since we were in diapers. Her father (Dimitri) actually mentored my mother when she went to St. Vladimir's Academy. She's taller than I am (right around five five) and has the best bright electric blue eyes and jet black, straight long hair. She's a loose wire though, and that has often gotten us into trouble. Nothing serious, but enough to have our parents question whether we should be allowed to hang around together or not.

Miranda Johnson though is new to our little circle. She lives just outside town limits (outside the wards), with her mother. They don't have a lot of money, they don't even have a phone, and I guess there are always men coming and going. I first met Miranda when Belinda Conta and her group decided to start picking on her, I had to step in. I couldn't stand the feeling of despair and sadness coming from Miranda.

Oh yeah, I should probably explain that. I'm...Well, not normal. I can't hear well (I actually wear a type of hearing aid, but more about that later), but people can't sneak up on me. And trust me, my brother's AJ and Brody try on a daily bases. Why am I like this? I don't know, but I wish I did know. On top of that I can feel other people's feelings, not like everyone else can, but I actually...It's hard to explain, it's like I start feeling what they are feeling. I can't control it, I can't help it, it just happens. Did I mention that my parents don't know about this?

Anyways, with Belinda...Well it wasn't my finest hour to say the least. I beat her up pretty good; I just lost it on her. I got mixed reviews for that stunt. Mom and Daddy were so mad at me, plus Belinda's parents had wanted to press charges (I was only eleven though, so thankfully that didn't go through), while Emilie praised me for my actions. Aj and Brody had thought it was cool, while my sister Tash had reprimanded me as badly as Mom and Daddy had.

I however, got a new best friend out of it. Miranda is tiny, like almost unhealthy tiny. She's shorter then I am, only around four foot six or so, and maybe weights eighty pounds, it's crazy. But she has a pretty face (splattered with freckles), baby blue eyes and thick, curly, strawberry blond hair.

"Ssh, quiet guys, if you wake up the babies Mom is going to be really mad," I said as I straightened up. By 'babies' I meant my three year old brother and two year old sister.

"She threw a pillow at me!" Emilie hissed as Miranda giggled and stuck her tongue out at her.

"Then get up!" I told her as I grinned at her in the mirror.

Emilie's normally perfectly brushed out black hair was sticking up on end and the makeup she had on yesterday (and didn't take off last night) was crusted up underneath her eyes.

"Why are we up at six again?" She asked as she kicked the blanket's off her and jumped out of bed. She had on a grey pair of track pants and a navy blue tank top that she had used for pyjamas. Both were mine.

"Because, we went through with your stupid idea last night Em, so you're running with us this morning," I told her as she crossed my room and opened the door to my bathroom.

"So? We run EVERY morning Anna, why at six this morning?" She asked me as she closed the door.

I rolled my eyes at Miranda who just grinned. We had been over this already! "The gathering remember?" I asked as I heard the door open and Emilie stepped out.

"What? Oh!" Emilie's blue eyes lit up.

The gathering referred to the time every summer when our house was literally flooded with people. Generally this included my mother's best friend Her Majesty Vasilisa Dragomir (or Aunt Lissa when we weren't at court), her husband/not husband Christian Ozera (Emilie's cousin) and their three kids, Vanessa was five years older than me, and the twins Alexei and Aniya who were my age, and also very close friends. My father's cousin Tori and her husband (and guardian) Eddie were also coming, and they had two little boy Chase (4) and Mason (2) and Tori was pregnant again with another little boy. Also I think this year my Nana Ivashkov was coming, and so was Nanny Hathaway and Grand-Dad Mazur. In other words, it was just a huge gathering of people who came for a month every summer, generally the last month of vacation.

It was a lot of fun. I mean, Emilie, Miranda and myself already had a large group we ran with here, but adding the Dragomir twins into it was always fun.

"What time is everyone getting here?" Emilie asked me as she stole my hair brush and started to pull it through her hair.

"Err..." I trailed off as I thought, "I think mom said we're picking them up at ten, hence the morning run being so early, now hurry up! Voda is going to be waiting for us," I chastised her as I stepped away from the mirror. Miranda was still sitting on the bed, she was an earlier riser then I was, so she was already ready to go.

"Ten says is takes her another half hour to get ready," I whispered to Miranda as I grabbed my inserts off my bedside table and shoved them in my ears.

"You're on," she said with a grin. I had made the bet knowing full well that while I would be able to pay up, Miranda wouldn't be able to. I also knew, I would lose. Emilie may be a perfectionist, but she was quick with getting ready.

"Voda's coming?" Emilie asked as she stole and elastic from my dresser and tied her hair back in a messy, off center ponytail.

I saw Miranda blush a bit and felt her get uneasy. 'Voda' was one of our friends, Kyle Voda. His mother had gone to school with mine, and he just lived on the next estate from us. He was a good person, but he also had a crush on Miranda (who returned it) and it made for an awkward situation when everyone got together.

"Yeah, if he gets out of bed," I said as I grabbed my cell phone and checked the messages. There was one from Kyle, _I'm up, see you in fifteen minutes or so, _"he's up, we have fifteen minutes to meet him," I told her.

Emilie grinned. She loved to harass Miranda about Voda, but I usually stopped her before she got too far with it. Emilie I don't think saw boys. She didn't mind shamelessly flirting with them, but for an actually crush? No, that so wasn't her.

We left my bedroom almost silently and tip toed down the stairs and into the kitchen where I made a bee line to the fridge and grabbed an apple. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Miranda spoke.

"Good Morning Ms. Hathaway," I spun around and grasped my chest as my heart raced, I hadn't noticed my mother. Normally people didn't scare me, I KNEW when they were there. My mother was the only exception, I think it had something to do with her being shadow kissed, but I'm not sure.

"It's Rose, Miranda and good morning to you," my mother corrected her gently.

"You're up early," I said with a glance at the clock, twenty after six.

Mom just shrugged, "when you have seven kids Anna-Marie, you take time for yourself were you can get it," she said with a smile.

I had been a surprise baby for my parents, and as I understand it, I was supposed to be an only child. They decided to have AJ (Adrian James, after my father) two years later though. Tash (Natasha Braewyn) was planned but came too early, then came Joce (Jocelyn Viktoriya) just so they had an even number. Sticking AJ with three sisters though seemed mean I guess so they decided on just one more, enter Brody Ibraham. After that Mom had said enough, and I can't say I blame her. Five was more than enough for anyone. However, Pat (Patrick Christian) was another surprise four years after Brody was born. Not a year later, Teresa Navaeh was born. After Teresa no one else has been born, and mom says there will be no more. Seven is plenty.

I also knew my mother gave up a very promising career as a guardian for her children.

"What are your plans for today?" Mom asked me as I bite into my apple.

"Running this morning," I said as my friends simply helped themselves to whatever they wanted. One of the hazards of being like sisters were your friends just saw your house as theirs, which for me and my family was fine.

"You have your inserts in?" Mom asked me as she narrowed her eyes. I rolled mine.

My inserts were kind of a removable hearing aid. I took them out when I got in the shower, or went to bed, and put them in for the rest of the time. They connected to a permanent implant in my inner ear and helped me hear. I was forever forgetting about them, and mom was always asking about them.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me Anna-Marie Ivashkov," My mother said in a stern voice.

"Yes mother, I have them," I told her with a snort.

"What is up with you this morning Anna-Marie?" Mom asked me suddenly, "you're awfully moody," she pointed out.

"And?" I asked her before walking to the door and grabbing my shoes. Emilie shoved the rest of her apple in her mouth and followed suit while Miranda came more slowly behind her.

"Run it off then, and be back before nine thirty, we have to pick up Lissa and everyone else," Mom reminded me.

"I'll be back," I promised as I unlocked the door and pulled it open, then pushed open the screen door and stepped out into the crisp morning air. Of course, to the humans it was considered evening, but it was morning for us.

"What took you girls so long? Couldn't get your make up right?" A voice called from the edge of the yard.

I didn't have to look far to see four figures standing near the back path, on the other side of our fence. Said path was a connecting path between our backyard and the Voda and Conta estates. Usually the other end of it was our meeting place. Standing there talking to us was Kyle Voda. Tall, and blond with the bright blue eyes, Kyle was a heart throb.

"I take that back, Emilie did you just roll out of bed?" He called to her as she came out of the house and jumped over the rail of the porch and onto the ground.

"What's it to you Voda?" She asked. Although we were all friends, Emilie and Kyle shared this love/hate relationship.

Kyle just smirked before turning his gaze to Miranda. A soft smile graced his already handsome features, "looking good Miranda," he told her. Beside me Miranda blushed and mumbled a thank you.

"Come on Voda, stop flirting and let's go!" Connor Gordie called from just behind Kyle. Connor was a year or two younger than us, but ran as often when he could. He was a Dhampir like Emilie, Miranda and I with brown curly hair and grey eyes. He had just moved here with his mother and younger sister, who hung out with Jocelyn.

I jogged over to the fence and unlatched the gate and stepped through, "hey Ivashkov, looking good, as usual," great, Justin Conta was here too? He was constantly at me, and I was constantly ignoring him. He was Belinda Conta's twin brother, his buzzed blond hair and brown eyes made him attractive to many of the girls in the area, but I found him repulsive.

I ignored him and waited for Emilie and Miranda to get out of the yard before swinging it shut. I was about to climb part of the chain link fence to latch it when Kyle stepped over and simply flicked it with a figure, "let me help," he offered with a lazy smile.

"I could have gotten it, but thank you," I told him with a roll of my eyes.

"Of course you could of Anna," he said with a smile before turning and striking up a conversation with Miranda.

Besides Kyle, Connor and Justin, the other guy that was present was Isaac, Kyle's eight year old brother, "Jocelyn isn't running?" He asked me, his face looking down casted .

"She's still in bed I think..." I told him with a shrug. Isaac has had a crush on Jocelyn for a long time now, "let's get going, I'm on a time limit," I said as I started jogging down the path, a little conscious of the amount of eyes that were on me.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Three hours later at nearly nine-thirty we were playing soccer after our run. Our group was larger now, and included a couple other Dhampirs, and Moroi. It was fun until (just before I went to score a goal) I heard a car horn and looked around just as I swung my leg. I complete messed up my shot, and I glared at my mother for it. I looked at my watch, nine-thirty...Crap!

"I gotta go guys, I'll see you this afternoon," I called as I sprinted off the field towards the parking lot .

"Practise is at six don't forget Anna," Emilie yelled with a laugh. Yeah, I had a horrid memory for times.

I just waved as I ripped open the door to our family's SUV and climbed inside, "sorry mom." I said as I put on my seat belt.

Mom pulled out of the parking lot before she spoke, "its ok Anna-Marie, forget it," she said with a smile as we headed towards town limits and outside the wards. It always made me a little nervous going outside the wards, after all there were Strigoi out there.

Forget that there hasn't been a killing or sighting around here in like ten years or so.

"Private flight?" I asked mom after a moment. Aunt Lissa and her family always flew on private jets. Meaning, they wouldn't be at the public airport, but a smaller one closer to our town. Mom nodded as she concentrated on the road in front of her, "who's coming as guardians?" I asked her. The queen always traveled with two guardians, two others should be with them to cover the family.

"Kitty will be with them for sure, possible Serena, and Lavender as well," Mom told me, "Lissa never really said who they were bringing," Mom mused.

"Oh," I said. We had a seven passenger vehicle, and I had a feeling someone would be renting a car to drive in. There wouldn't be enough room.

The rest of the fifteen minute drive was quiet. The tension was still settled between Mom and me from this morning. Why had I been in a bad mood? Up in the room I had been in a good mood right? I mean Lexie and Aniya would be here soon, and more people were coming this evening. Either way, soon enough we were in the parking lot of the private airport and I quickly unsnapped my seatbelt and jumped out of the SUV.

"Stay close Anna-Marie," Mom told me. I rolled my eyes, thankful for the vehical5 between us so she didn't see. I was NOT a child that needed to be constantly watched.

I skipped a head of my mother, and I felt her eyes studying me. I knew she was trying to figure me out, she was always like that. Daddy had the best explanation I think for our constant bickering, we were a lot alike. Both determined, stubborn and unwilling to admit when we are beaten or that we need help. I also knew my mother didn't agree with my becoming a guardian. She thought my hearing would be too big of a liability. I told her to stop worrying.

Once inside the main building, my mother calmed down quite a bit. There were a ton of Guardian's here, making sure the Royal's who used this area were save from any Strigoi threat. The tension was high, and you could have cut it with a knife. I tensed up a bit as worry, boredom and even some resentfulness hit me. I took a deep breath and moved on though, hoping my mother didn't notice.

I don't think she did though, because all of a sudden there was a yell of "ROSE!" and my Aunt Lissa ran at Mom and threw her arms around her. Very unqueen like.

"Hey Liss," Mom replied as she returned the hug. It had been about two years since they had actually seen each other. Lissa was busy with court stuff, while Mom had all the kids at home, it really didn't make traveling easy for either of them. Christian had brought Vanessa, Lexie and Aniya out to visit the last two years.

"Hey squirt," was the only warning I got before I was pulled into a rib breaking hug.

"Urgg, Lex! I can't breathe!" I told him as I squirmed to be let go, " and don't call me that! Just because you're going to be some freakishly huge height, and I'm going to be lucky to hit five five does NOT mean you can torment me!" I told him with what was supposed to be a stern look.

He rolled his eyes at me, "good to see you too Anna," he told me.

"Hey Anna!" Aniya grabbed me next, this time I hugged her back. Aniya was only half a foot higher than me, small for a Moroi, but man was she gorgeous! Like, guys ran into poles because they were watching her gorgeous. Runway gorgeous. Long blond hair fell down her back, bright, pale green eyes shone behind thick eye lashes. Man, if only I could look half as good!

"Hey Aniya," I told her as I pulled away from her and took in the scene around me for the first time. Christian and Vanessa were a little ways off from the rest of the crowd, talking to each other, while three guardians were standing around our little group. I recognized Kitty (an old friend of the family, and my father's cousin), Serena and Lavender. Looks like mom must have called it.

"Anna, have you ever hear of a shower? Geez girl you stink," Alexei said as I hugged him after his sister.

He hugged me close, and even a little longer then he should have, even after that comment, "can't be that bad, you're still holding on to me," I told him with a smirk.

"Trust me, it can be. What were you doing before you came here?" He asked me with a funny look on his face.

"Running, and Soccer, what are you? My father now?" I asked him with a laugh. I had to admit even though he was a complete jerk sometimes, and a pain in my rear all the time, Alexei Dragomir was hot. What was it with Aunt Lissa and Uncle Christian having such beautiful children? Alexei had inherited his father's black hair, but that was about all his color. He was pale (even for a Moroi) and had pale, sea green eyes. Top that off with a lazy half smirk that was always on his face, and a beautiful high cheek bone and wow..Gorgeous.

"Nope, not at all, just wondering, " he said with a smile as he let me go. I got a hug from everyone else, and then it was time to get going. It took almost half an hour to get the Royal family from the secure airport to the car, way to long if you ask me.

Soon enough though, we were on the road again and I was sandwiched between Lexie and Aniya in the very back of the SUV. Fine with me, it meant we could talk without the adults and Vanessa over hearing too much.

"What's on the planner tonight?" Lexie asked me. Aniya turned to look at us, a grin creeping over her face.

"Emilie and I are training from six to eight tonight, afterwards I think we're going to the Voda Orchard for a bit," I told them, a grin forming on my own face. The Voda Orchard wasn't anything huge, except there would be no adults, and we were free do to what we wanted.

"Sounds fun," Lexie drawled.

"If you'd rather sit at the house with the adults and listen to them chat politics, be my guest," I hissed to him. For whatever reason, I had just been happy and excited, and now I was cranky again. Great.

"Any idea if the Soccer game will still be going?" Lexie asked me suddenly.

"If not soccer then basketball or something else," I told him with a shrug. In our town there was always a sports game of some sort going on.

He just nodded. The rest of the drive back was quiet and I didn't push for conversation. Mostly because with the amount of people in the SUV, I was getting a head ache. Everyone has a differently 'feel' to them, and having this much in one place was over baring on me. I sighed and leaned my head back, wondering how the usual fifteen minute felt like a couple hours.

**So, Chapter one of the sequel. What do you think? Good, bad other? Let me know! I have no real thoughts except is this a worthy continuation of my last story.**

**Let me know.**

**-CeilidhMae.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Of Headaches and Injuries.

**Anna's Point of View.**

By the time we got home I had a fully fledged migraine and I was cranky. Once the SUV was turned off and Lexie was out, I jumped out quickly and went to the trunk, grabbing two bags and heading inside with them.

"Hey guys!" Emilie and Miranda were sitting on the front porch waiting for us. I flinched at Emilie's yell as it hurt my head a lot, but thankfully no one seemed to notice.

Or rather I didn't think they had noticed, "you ok Anna?" Aniya whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I just have a headache," I told her. Yes it was just a headache, but I probably wouldn't be fine. Aniya just gave me a knowing look before stepping onto the deck, and into a hug from Emilie. I made my way past them and into the house.

"Hey Anna," Tasha Ozera said as I stepped into the kitchen and put the bags I was carrying down by the sink.

"Hey," was my only reply before grabbing a glass from the counter and filling it with water.

"Is everyone here yet?" my father asked me. He was sitting at the table and now that I looked around at it, so were a couple others. My father was there, and so was Tasha. Also though, Dimitri was here, Nahkiti and Emilie's younger sister Taz (here actual name was Tzila, but seriously? Who saddles their kid with that as a name?).

"Just the Dragomir's," I said before draining my glass and refilling it, "where's everyone else?" I asked. It was strange not to see half a million kids running around the house. Actually, that wasn't true. On a normal day you didn't see much of Tash or Joce as they liked to study, and AJ and Brody were normally out terrorizing the neighbourhood. Usually though, you did see Pat and Teresa.

"Annie!" Oh god, I had to ask didn't I? My youngest brother had been in the living room and soon attached himself to my leg, and was yelling loudly. My poor head.

"Hey little Buddy," I said as I bent down and picked him up, hoping above hope that he would quiet down. He didn't though and started jabbering along. I just nodded and took it, my head now feeling about ready to explode. Out of all my siblings, Pat and I were the closest. Seriously, he wanted to be with me more than our parents. Don't ask why, that's just how he was and I took it. He was actually usually very quiet, but as things always tend to go, because I had a headache, he was chatty.

"You ok Anna-Marie?" My father asked me after a minute. I swear, my parents were the only ones who get away with calling me Anna-Marie. From the time I could talk, or at least this is what mom says, I have always told people it was Anna.

"Yeah, I just have a headache," I told him as I readjusted Pat on my hip. Man he was getting heavy.

"Still up for practice tonight?" Nahkiti asked me. Nahkiti had been working with me for some time, making sure that my hearing disability wasn't going to be a huge issue for me when I started my actual guardian training. I took my interview this year, and then started training classes. So far, I was proving that my hearing was going to be no problem what so ever.

"Would you let Emilie off because of a headache?" I asked her. Even though Emilie was family, Nahkiti had always been harder on her during practise. I don't know if that is just because she's family, or because I have a disability.

"No, probably not," she answered.

"Well then, I guess I'll see you at six," I told her with a smile. Nahkiti had known I would be there. I didn't miss out on practise, end of story. Just then everyone poured into our kitchen. Granted our kitchen was huge, but there were still too many people around for me. I went to put Pat down (meeting with some resistance with him), and made up a quick excuse to cover my escape, "I just need to grab a shower, I'll be down in a few," I said quickly addressing Emilie, Miranda, Aniya and Lexie in particular. They nodded, Miranda giving me a knowing look, she had the best understanding about what happened with me and crowds. And even at that, we hadn't discussed it, she only knew what she had guessed.

Ten minutes later I pushed open the door to my room, grabbed a change of clothes and locked myself in my bathroom (yes I have a private bathroom). I leaned over the sink first and closed my eyes, wishing that my headache would just go away. After a moment I straighten up, and stripped off my clothes and moved to start the shower. I just let the water wash over me for a couple moments, relaxing and refusing to think. Not fifteen minutes later, my hair was washed, I didn't stink and I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around me.

When I was dressed I headed back downstairs. When I reached the bottom of the steps, I could feel that there were less people around. Thank the lord, I still had a headache, but it was ebbing. I stepped off the stairs and went around into the living room. Ick, there were still like fifteen people sitting in my living room! Mom, Dad, Tasha, Dimitri, Christian, Lissa, Vanessa, Nahkiti, all the kids (minus AJ and Brody), plus the Lord and Lady Voda had shown up (Richard and Mia when we were home) with their three kids. I felt my headache spike again and knew I had to leave, like now.

"Hey, you guys up for a game of Basketball?" I asked as I looked around at my friends.

Kyle was the first one to reply, "Yeah sounds good to me." It was agreed on quickly (thank god) and the group of us took off with just a few yelled hi's and bye's to the adults. As I left though I caught my father's eye, damn he knew something was up.

It was ten minutes before we were organized enough to leave the house, but we were soon walking down the road, heading towards the sports field. See our town had an amazing sport's set up. We had an indoor swimming pool, ice rink, trail, and soccer field and basketball court. It was great, and it was located close by which was even better. I spent the better part of every vacation home there.

"We should catch a movie later," Lexie suggested as he walked beside me.

"It would have to be much later, Em and I have practise till eight, hey you sitting in Miranda?" I asked her as I looked over my shoulder to where she was talking and chatting with Kyle and Aniya.

"What? Oh, no I can't," I felt Miranda's mood go from happy and content to almost scared and depressed, "mom doesn't want me getting any ideas," she finished as way of explanation.

Oh yeah, Miranda's mother was a typical bloodwhore, and there were always men running in and out of Miranda's place. She didn't like it, she wanted to leave and go to school with the rest of us, and she wanted to be a guardian. But her mother wouldn't let her. Her mother's idea was why would she want to be better than her Mama? I could see why she would want to be, but it wasn't my place to say. Anyways, it was bad enough that Mom never let me go over there, Miranda was more than welcome at our place, but no way, I wasn't going over there. Tasha and Dimitri thought the same way when it came to Emilie. It made me feel bad sometimes, but generally Miranda was more than happy to leave her world behind and hang in ours for a little while.

Miranda had a scared feeling about her, which caused me to drop back to her. Aniya took the cue and stepped up to talk to Emilie and Lexie, while Kyle took Miranda's hand in his own. "Are you ok?" I asked her in a low whisper.

"Yeah, of course I am. I just...Well I just don't want to go home tonight, Mama's going to be so mad at me for not coming home yesterday. She doesn't like me hanging out over hear a lot," she told me with a shrug.

I could tell she was lying but I let it drop. Something else was bothering her, but we had reached the basketball court, and thankfully it was empty except for two younger boys sitting on a bench. I recognized them right away, the taller one with darker brown hair was my brother AJ, who was two years younger than me, and the smaller one with lighter brown hair (although still dark) was my seven year old brother Brody. Great.

"You two up for a game?" Kyle called to them, causing both of them to jump.

"Of course, if you don't mind losing Voda," AJ called back. He was cocky and arrogant, it annoyed the hell out of me.

"You playing Aniya?" I asked turning to her instead.

She shook her head, "no thanks, too rough for me, but maybe we should have invited Vanessa along, you guys are going to have uneven teams," she said with a smile. Aniya wasn't the type for full contact sports. Actually, sports in general she avoided. She had this fragile air about her, and I was sure we could easily break her if she did play.

I just shrugged, "someone else will just have to sit out and we'll rotate," I told her with a smile before grabbing the ball from Kyle and jogging to the center of the court, "let's go guys, I'm captain for one team, who else?" I asked them. Alexei took the second captaincy and we soon had our teams. I had Kyle, Brody and Miranda on my team, while Alexei had AJ, Emilie and Isaac. Emilie's younger sister Taz was sitting this round out and would switch with Miranda once someone hit four points.

If we had an odd number of players we made the teams as even as possible, and one person would sit out. The one sitting out would go till someone had four points (which didn't take as long as you would think), and they would switch with someone until another four points were scored. Whichever team got the four points was always the one switching players. It sounds confusing, but I promise we've been doing this for years, it's not as bad as it sounds.

We played for half an hour without any problems. Then as I took possession of the ball and jumped to shoot, something caused me to lose my balance on the jump and I fell. It would have been a perfect shot too! What really got me though, was I found the only rock on the court, and fell on top of it, and it was sharp.

"Ouch!" I slipped up as I pulled myself into a sitting position and stuck my left leg out. Blood was pouring from my wound (I was a bleeder, what can I say?) and it was deep. My hands too were scraped up pretty badly from where I tried to catch myself.

"You ok Anna?" Lexie asked, worry was written all over his face and emotions. He was the first over to me, next came Miranda, Kyle, AJ and Brody. Aniya was hovering at the back of the group with Emilie as they tried to see if I was ok.

"Yeah, I'm fine, or I will be," I said as I poked at the wound and winced, "I think I should probably get home," I said as I tried to pull myself up. I didn't have to try though, Kyle was at my side and pulling me up, letting me lean against him, I couldn't put much weight on my leg. "Thanks," I mumbled as I took a step and then another.

"Whoa, wait Anna, you're not going to make the walk like that," AJ pointed out. Everything I stepped, more blood gushed from the wound, "I'll call Mom," he said as he reached around for his cell phone.

I don't know why I didn't let him but I shook my head, "I'll be fine AJ, it's not that far," I told him with a roll of my eyes. I knew he wasn't convinced but he turned off his cell and ran to grab his shirt (all the guys played without them).

"Here then," he bent and tied his navy blue t-shirt around the wound, covering it up, "to keep it clean and keep the blood in," he said with a shrug, "let's get you home then," he said with a shake of his head as he ducked under my other arm and took the rest of my weight off the bad leg, "come on Brody," he called over his shoulder.

"Here Voda, I'll help her," Lexie told Kyle as he approached the side that Kyle was supporting.

"I have her Lexie, it's good," he told him with a smile. He was acting some smug.

I felt anger bubble into Lexie's worry, "hey! I'm not helpless you know! I'm fine!" I told them sharply. I didn't like them thinking I needed them to help me, "I can get home myself."

"Yeah, I doubt it Sissy," AJ said as he rolled his eyes. Man that kid had an attitude on him.

Eventually we did make it back to my house, AJ helped me most of the way, since I shook off Kyle, telling him I was fine and that he should go home. Which he and Isaac did. Lexie had tried to take his place, but I shoved him off as well. AJ helped me up the stairs and into the kitchen where I sat down in one of the chairs and looked at unwrapped the wound.

I wasn't bleeding anymore anyways, but it was still bright red and gross looking. The dried blood was also repulsive. "What happened to you?" My father asked as he came into the kitchen, worry and amusement were written on his features.

"Fell," I told him as I took the warm, damp cloth that Aniya offered me and dapped at the cut, trying to remove the dried blood from it.

Dad crossed the kitchen quickly and knelt down beside me and took the cloth, "when are you going to learn Baby girl?" He asked me with a smile, I scowled. For as long as I could remember he had called me that, and I hated it, "staying on your feet is much better for you," he said as he made sure there was nothing still in the cut and ran a finger down it, healing it instantly.

I snorted and grinned, "It's been what? A week since my last injury?" I asked him. He just looked up and raised an eye brow, "hey! I think that's a personal best for me." I told him with a laugh.

"Sadly, you're right," he told me as he stood up, "you going to be ok?" He asked me seriously.

"Yeah Dad, I'll be fine," I told him. When we were alone, I would call him Daddy, but with my friends around? It was always Dad. I stood up and put pressure on my leg, testing it out. It was a little sore, but it would hold my weight, and there was no more wound, "let's go upstairs," I suggested to my friends who just nodded.

As we all reached my room, that's when I noticed it. Miranda usually wore her hair down unless we were play sports. Today though, it was up in a high, neat ponytail which exposed her neck. "Miranda, what is that?" I asked her as I spotted two neat little pinpricks on the side of her neck, yellowish bruises were barely visible around them.

"What?" Oh!" Miranda ripped the elastic out of her hair, letting it fall around her neck, "it's nothing Anna," she told me in a sharp voice. I was stunned, Miranda was scared and worried over this. I stopped as I stepped into my bedroom and looked around. It was neat and clean, and now invaded by the five of us. AJ and Brody had gone back outside, leaving Lexie as the only guy.

Lexie was the one who struck up the conversation first, telling us about the going ons at Court and everything else. I stayed out of it, I was studying Miranda. She was a lot darker then I was, and it took me a minute to notice them at first but I soon did. She had tiny bruises on her upper arms, it looked like someone had grabbed her really hard. Around her neck I could see the same marks. I don't think anyone else noticed them, after all Miranda wasn't usually the center of attention. Not to mention, we had just been playing Soccer and Basketball, and did most days. Sometimes we even had wrestling matches, she could have gotten them anywhere right?

Those marks on her neck though...There was something about them that made me uneasy. At that moment Lexie laughed at something Emilie had said, fully exposing his fangs in the process. I felt the color drain from my face as everything came together. My stomach churned and I had to excuse myself to the bathroom. After the door was shut I slid down it to the floor, putting my arms around my legs and resting my head on my knees.

They were bite marks. Someone was using her as a feeder.

**Woot, Chapter two. I'm not going to lie, I think I'm going to like writing this story a lot more than the other one. Why? Because these are practically all original characters, so I have a lot of wiggle room. I will have some Rose/Adrian scenes put in and possibly Christian/Lissa and other pairings, but it's mostly about the kids. **

** Anyways, let me know what you think about this! **

** -CeilidhMae.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Of Promises and Spirit

**Anna's Point of View. **

Soon enough, it was time to head back to the sports fields for training with Nahkiti. It was then that I got a chance to talk to Miranda on her own. I wasn't in the best of moods, and my way for confronting her about what I was thinking probably wasn't the best way.

"Miranda, who bite you?" I asked her as soon as Emilie was on the field, waiting for me and her cousin.

"Excuse me? Anna, I would never..." She began, but I interrupted her by moving her hair out of the way and exposing the teeth marks once again.

"I know what those are Miranda, and it isn't right! Not at our age anyways," I told her. I didn't care what adults did, but to bite someone our age? It wasn't...It was like molesting a human child, it was illegal.

"Shut up Anna," Miranda told me suddenly as she glanced around the area, no doubt making sure no one could over hear us. "Look Anna, it's fine I promise. I'm...I'm working on it, this was a onetime thing only," she told me nervously.

I didn't buy it though and shook my head, "why do you feel you have to lie to me Miranda? And if it's nothing why are you afraid to leave?" I asked her. I should have been kind and gentle in that, but I wasn't. Something was getting to me.

"Anna, I'm not lying, I promise I'll be ok," She told me with a smile, "you best get going though, or Kiti is going to really mad with you, I'll see you in the morning for a run," she told me before adjusting her reddish blond curls to hide the bite mark.

"If you're sure," I told her uneasily.

"Positive Anna, I'll be fine. But Anna..." She began before taking a deep breath, "don't mention this to anyone ok? It'll be ok, it's nothing," she told me with a smile.

I nodded, "yeah, no problem," I told her. I didn't believe it was nothing, but if she said she had it then who was I to push her? But I didn't like the idea of not telling anyone either. After I agreed not to, my stomach churned, what had I agreed to? I should tell someone, most likely my parents, but I had promised not too...

"Thanks Anna, night," Miranda gave me a quick hug which I kind of returned and took off down the road, heading towards her place.

"How nice of you to join us Miss. Ivashkov," Nahkiti told me as she glanced at her watch. I was late, nearly 10 minutes late.

"Sorry Guardian Ivashkov," I told her. It was weird calling her that. Off the training field and away from school she was always Nahkiti or Kiti to me. Never Guardian Ivashkov...

"What reason do you have tonight Anna?" She asked me, giving me a stern look.

"I...I was talking to Miranda," I told her. It was a bad excuse, but it was the truth and I knew Kiti wouldn't be happy about it.

"That's not an excuse Anna, you'll do better to learn to be on time, but speaking of Miranda, is she not sitting in?" Kiti asked me, her brown eyes a little confused.

Although her mother refused to let her go to one of the Academies and train to be a guardian, Miranda sometimes came to practise with us and yes she did participate. Kiti never minded the extra person, and never charged her for it either. According to Mom, Nakiti's mother had been a huge supporter of teaching whoever wanted to learn. Weather they were Moroi or Dhampirs. Nahkiti supported it as well, and Miranda wanted to learn, so, Miranda learned.

"No Guardian Ivashkov, she had to get home," I told her as I started with my stretches.

One thing I loved about Nahkiti is she did all the exercises and everything else with us. I grabbed my ankle and pulled my leg up, touching my heel to just above my hip, yeah I'm pretty flexible; first it was one leg, then the other. As I completed the stretches, I felt myself relax and the tensions from the day leave my body. Soon enough though, it was time for the next step, running.

I ran every morning, and so did Emilie, but Kiti wanted us to 'know where are feet are' as she put it, and always gave us fifteen minutes of lap work after stretching. Whatever, I loved to run; Emilie though was tired of it and only did it because she won't get to do anything else if she didn't. After running would come fifteen minutes of martial arts training, then some more stretching as a cool down, and then meditation and discussion. All of this we accomplished in two hours. I didn't mind it, each part had its own reason for being there, but I knew Emilie hated it.

After our run, Kiti gave us our times, and we walked one more circuit before moving into the center of the field. Kiti explained what we were doing and we had at it. We didn't use practise dummy's since really we didn't have any here, we used each other and let me tell you it was a good thing we were really good friends. Kiti watched us go through the motions, often giving advice and stopping us and resetting everything. She was huge on control, and although I seemed to do well at it, Emilie was slower to gain control over her movements.

"Keep throwing punches like that Em and you're going to get your arm snapped," she told Emilie as she stopped us and readjusted Emilie's arm and showed her how to hold and extend it. This went on for a while before it was time to stretch again and then sit down and chat.

Meditation and discussion, I loved this part. Often times Nahkiti would discuss fights that had happened, and we would analyze them from what we heard. What was done wrong? What was done right? How would you have done it? We answered these questions as best we could. It helped with critical thinking of something like that. Anyways, it was one of my favourite parts of the whole thing.

"Strigoi," Nahkiti started by saying as she sat down and crossed her legs, "how do they differ from Moroi's?" She asked us, I raised my hand, "Anna," she said with a smile.

"Moroi can deal with small amounts of sunlight, Strigoi can't deal with any, Moroi don't kill to feed, Strigoi do," I began before adding, "Moroi can use magic that Strigoi can't use as well," I explained to her.

Emilie raised her hand and Nahkiti nodded at her, "Strigoi can't step onto holy ground either, and most people are under the agreement that they aren't living," she finished.

Nahkiti nodded, "good. There are other differences as well, but you picked up on the main parts," she told us, "now once changed or awakened as the Strigoi call it, can they be brought back?" She asked us, her brown eyes watching both of us closely.

"Papa was," Emilie said suddenly. It was true, we had both grown up hearing how Dimitri had been turned, and then brought back.

"Yes, he was. How though?" Nahkiti asked us.

"Spirit magic," I told her hesitantly, "Spirit heals, and when a stake is charmed with Spirit and wielded by a Moroi who uses the Spirit magic, then the Strigoi who is stabbed in the heart with it will come back," I told her.

"Good, good," Nahkiti said with an approving nod, "now Spirit charmed stakes are rare, and often times aren't used by guardians unless they protect a spirit user, why?" She asked us.

"Because spirit can't be charmed onto the stake during the forging process, it has to be added later, and it's hard to work spirit around the other elements," I told her. Dad was a spirit user and I had asked him about it, after all Spirit charmed stakes didn't hurt Moroi, even if they were stabbed with them. So why not use them?

"That's why they aren't made, why aren't they used?" Nahkiti asked again.

"There aren't enough Spirit users to make them," Emilie said suddenly, "usually if a Guardian wields a Spirit charmed stake, then it was a gift from a spirit using Moroi, generally the one they protect," she added quickly.

"Right. So, why are they only given as gifts though?" Nahkiti asked, she wanted us to puzzle something out, but I wasn't sure what.

"Well, Dad told me it takes a lot of magic to do, and it's not easy," I told her, and then I added, "using that much magic is hard on the Moroi wielding it, since Spirit magic comes from the person, not from their element."

A smile passed of Kiti's features, "very good, very good," she paused and then asked, "what are the pro's of wielding a spirit charmed stake?" She asked looking right at Emilie. She wanted her to answer the question.

"The added spirit magic makes it so that if a Dhampir stabs a Striogi with the stake, he will die. It doesn't have to be through the heart," she answered.

"Right, so here's the question. If this weapon," she actually pulled out her own stake, which I knew had been charmed by Tori for her, "will kill a Strigoi no matter where you stab him (so long as it goes in an inch or two), then why don't more Dhampir's have them? Why don't we force Spirit users to charm them?" She asked us.

"It's unethical," I said simply, "too much use of Spirit can, and will cause depression and mental instability in the user. Not to mention there isn't enough Spirit user's to even consider charming the amount of stakes that would be needed," I finished.

"How many known Spirit users are there?" Nahkiti asked me with a smile.

"Five in total," I told her.

"Can you name them?" She asked me with a smile.

"Adrian Ivashkov, Vittoria Ivashkov," I started with my two family members, "then there is Her Royal Majesty Vasilisa Dragomir, Oksana...Well I can't remember her last name and Robert Doru," I finished.

Nahkiti just nodded, "yes, they are but there has been one other, Avery Lazar was a spirit user as well, except, well powers took more from her then she should have let them," she told me with a smile. She glanced at her watch; it must nearly be time for this to be over, "we're almost out of time, so I have one question for you two to ponder until our next lesson, why do we kill Strigoi?" She asked.

"Seriously? You have got to be kidding right?" Emilie asked, "Their evil creatures of the night that would kill off the Moroi and the Dhampir's given half a chance!" She exclaimed.

"So, is that the only reason?" Nahkiti asked her calmly as she stood and stretched.

"Well...We...I mean, no! It's our duty to keep the Moroi safe," Emilie retorted.

"It is, but some would argue that a female Dhampir's duty is to have children, and raise them. So, aren't you going against your duty by training to be a guardian? Do you think I haven't done my duty because I never raised a child?" She asked her brown eyes a little mad at this idea.

"No...It's...That didn't come out right," Emilie finished with a down casted look.

"It did, go home and think about it, I'll hear your answers next week," she told us. I stood up and nodded before heading up the hill, not even bothering to wait for Emilie. All of a sudden I just wanted to be alone.

"Hey, wait up Anna!" Emilie called from behind me, "so, what did you think of that? Homework for guardian training," she said with a snort.

"It would do you some good to think beyond duty Em," I told her in a semi rude voice.

"Hey, it's not like there is any other reason is there?" She asked, "Do YOU want to risk your life for a stranger for any particular reason?" She asked me.

"Yes I have my reasons, and I'm not sharing them with you Em." I snapped at her, "and if you only want to protect someone because it's your duty, well you're not going to do a really good job now are you?" I asked her. That was a low blow and I knew it, "Emilie I'm..."

She interrupted me though, "fine, we'll see how this goes, good night Anna," she said before heading off towards her place, her head held high, refusing to look back.

I felt crushed, why had I snapped at her? I hadn't made a conscious decision to do that had I? I shook my head and walked slowly towards home, my mood at an all time low. "Hey Anna, you still up for a movie tonight?" Lexie asked me as I stepped into the kitchen.

He was alone, and he hadn't done anything to me, but I snapped. "No, just leave me alone tonight," I told him as I crossed the kitchen and took the steps two at a time. I elbowed my way past Jocelyn on the stairs.

"Owe Anna watch where you're going!" She whined as my elbow caught her in the arm.

"Oh stop whinnying Joce, you should have moved!" I told her with a snarl.

Once in my bedroom I slammed the door shut and collapsed on my bed. Tears were already coming to my eyes, why was I feeling like this? That argument with Emilie shouldn't have set it off this badly! No, it was something else.

There was a soft knock at the door, "go away!" I shouted back, not even stopping to ponder who it was. I'll give my bad mood credit for one thing, I may not feel great, but at least I wasn't feeling everyone else right now.

"Anna?" My father's voice came from the other side of the door, "can I come in?" He asked me gently.

"I'd rather you didn't," I mumbled.

"Why?" He asked me, wow I hadn't expected him to hear me.

"Because I just want to be alone," I called back. I decided at that moment to take my inserts out, I didn't want to hear anything else.

Which is why I didn't hear the door open, and my father come in and close the door behind him. I was lying with my head on one of my pillows, tears falling from my eyes. He sat down beside me, and patted my back, "what's wrong baby girl?" He asked me softly.

I just shook my head, "I don't know Daddy, I really don't," I told him before rolling over and sitting up. I pulled my legs up so my knees were to my chest and rested my chin on them looking at my father, "I just...I don't know what's going on," _you're lying to your father!_ A voice in my mind told me, _he's going to catch you!_

"Something has to be up Anna-Marie," he told me.

"Daddy..." I began, unsure if I should tell him about what had been going on, "have you ever had a secret that you felt like you should tell someone, but it's not yours to tell? And you KNOW that you have to tell someone, but you promised not too?" I asked him, my green eyes meeting his.

"Anna, you know you can tell me anything that's bothering you right?" he told me, "I can't help you if I don't know what's going on," He said.

"I know Daddy...I just, I promised not to tell," I told him, I was practically begging him to understand.

"Do you think you should keep this from me?" He asked me after a moment, his green eyes serious.

"No, I shouldn't," I told him with a sigh, "I know I shouldn't, but I don't have proof to back up my theory," and I was right. I had seen the bite marks, but as far as the bruises went, they could have been from anywhere. Why was I even thinking about this? Didn't I push it out of my head, wasn't I mad at Emilie? Not worried about Miranda? "I'm tired Daddy, can I just go to bed?" I asked him suddenly. All the thoughts and feelings swirling around inside me were starting to cause another headache, and more confusion, getting me more upset. Sleep would help that.

"Of course Baby Girl, remember though, if you need to talk about anything your mother and I are always here," he told me.

I nodded before moving to give him a hug, "I know Daddy, I know," I told him. The problem was, how did you talk about things that made no sense? Things that you weren't suppose to tell anyone?

**Poor Anna is a confused child. Anyways, I like this chapter myself. I personally love Emilie's character, bold, reckless and a little too cocky for her own good. Oh well, such is the life of teenager's right?**

** Let me know what you think!**

** -CeilidhMae.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Worries and Theories.

**Adrian's Point Of View. **

I shut Anna-Marie's door softly and sighed. Something was up, that much was for sure and she wasn't saying what. It was frustrating to say the least, but I knew I couldn't push her either. She was a lot like her mother that way. Push her too far and she would snap, and it wouldn't be pretty. No, I'd just give her sometime and trust her.

The younger kids (from Jocelyn down) were in bed already, while the older kids had gone to the movies and Anna-Marie was in bed. That meant time to play catch up for the adults, even if we weren't all here yet. Eddie and Tori would be driving up tomorrow (they lived just outside of San Diego) and Mom, Janine and Abe were flying in the day after next. There was going to be a lot of us here.

I entered the living room, and met the gazes of Rose, Lissa and Christian, "how is she?" Rose asked me as I stepped fully into the living room.

I shook my head, "she's pretty tore up over something, she won't tell me what though," I responded. I thought a moment and then added, "She asked me if I've ever had a secret that I knew I should tell someone, but I promised not to."

I saw the color drain from Rose's face. I hadn't really had anything like that, but Rose had. I watched as she looked from me to Lissa, worry written on her face, "did she say anything about it?" Rose asked me.

Again I shook my head, "nope, she just told me that she had promised not to tell, so I asked her if she felt she should tell someone and she said yes," I finished. I sat down in an arm chair before speaking again, "she wanted to go to bed, so I'll talk to her in the morning."

It was quiet for a moment until Christian spoke up, "so, what's new on this side of the country?" He asked. I just smiled; leave it to Christian to break the awkward silence.

I was actually kind of surprised to see him and Lissa here together this year, generally it was just Christian. Since she became Queen, Lissa hasn't had a lot of time away from Court. Christian though brought the three kids out every summer. When the twins and Anna-Marie had been born, the two of them had been in the process of divorcing one another, now though the papers were ready to be signed, and the pair of them didn't live together, but they never did divorce. It was a weird situation really.

"Not much, the Academy has been in contact with us, they don't want Anna-Marie to start her guardian training this year," Rose told them. Ah yes, at the age of Fourteen the novices started their specialized training classes. Due to her hearing problem the Academy didn't want Anna-Marie training, and they were prepared to let her continue book studies with Moroi students next year.

"Can Anna-Marie do the training? Or is there something about her hearing that is going to keep her from it?" Christian asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"There isn't," I answered, "Anna-Marie is just as good as any novice her age. Nahkiti has been working with her and Emilie all summer, she figures Anna-Marie will be at the top of her class," I had been extremely happy to hear that one. It's not like I didn't love my other three daughters, or my sons, it's just Anna-Marie and I have had a close bond since before she was born. I was sure for the longest time that I wasn't going to have a daughter, or wife when it was done and over with. She was here now though, and thriving.

"Then let her train, Anna is a smart kid, and tough she'll be fine," Christian said with a shrug.

Rose shook her head, "she could get hurt," ah yes. Rose had this thing that Anna-Marie was more fragile than the other kids or something.

"So could AJ when he starts, or any of the kids Rose," Christian told her, "if she wants to do it, let her." He finished.

"Yeah? And after she claws her way through training, who will take her on as a guardian Christian?" Rose asked. I sighed, that was one of the huge things we had a problem with, and even if Anna-Marie made it through training, chances were no one would take her on. Who wanted a partially deaf guardian? It was a liability.

"I would," Lissa said suddenly looking up over her cup of tea, "Anna-Marie is different Rose, I wish you could see her aura Rose, it isn't dark like yours is, but it's not normal either. Its golden flecked much like that of Spirit users, except not as much. Often it's a dark green like color with golden flecks," she said with a smile, "the spirit magic that was used to save her life also changed her." She finished.

I just nodded, I had seen the same thing with Anna-Marie's aura, but I hadn't connected it back to the use of spirit, "have Alexei and Aniya specialized yet?" I asked suddenly. Usually between twelve and fifteen Moroi children would specialize.

Lissa shook her head, "nope, but Aniya will be a spirit user, her aura already mostly gold in color. We're just waiting for her powers to start surfacing," she said with a sigh. I knew the plan, if Aniya specialized in Spirit she would start training right away, and hopefully stay off the madness, "as for Alexei, I have no idea. He'll probably be a fire user like his father and sister though." She finished. Vanessa, like Christian was a fire user.

"I thought Tori and Eddie were supposed to be here last week?" Lissa asked.

"They were, but Chase wasn't feeling well," Rose told her with a smile, "plus Tori's just about seven months along now, I can't say I blame her for not wanting to travel period, let alone with a sick kid," she finished.

"I wouldn't know," Lissa said with a smile. She had been nineteen when Vanessa was born, and she was a pretty easy pregnancy. With the twins she spent the better part of her pregnancy in the hospital. Much like Rose had with Anna-Marie.

"It's not fun, trust me," Rose said with a roll of her eyes, and she wondered where the kids (especially Anna-Marie, AJ and Tash) got it from. "When we moved out here, I was six months pregnant with Brody, and I swear each one of the other kids got the flu just to see how much Mom really can take," she said with a laugh.

I smiled, I remembered that trip well. I had been the only one not to get it, and then once we had gotten here, and everyone seemed better, Rose caught it. Why we had decided to drive from court out to California was beyond me. Especially with four kids, all between the ages of six and two. It had been a fun drive though, and the kids enjoyed it for the most part.

"Do Tori and Eddie know what their having this time?" Christian asked us with a smile. Yeah, he talked tough but the man went to pieces over babies and young children. He was also strangely good with them.

"Another boy and I think this is it," I told them with a smile, "Tori doesn't want to risk having another boy in the house I think," I added.

Lissa laughed, "Aren't you glad your bunch is pretty even?" She asked Rose.

Rose shrugged, "it wouldn't have matter either way, but at least this way I'm not the only girl in the house," she said with a smile. We had been lucky, we had four girls and three boys, and it was as even as we were going to get it without having another one.

"Ever think about evening it our Rose?" Christian asked her.

Rose snorted, "hell no. I love my kids to death, but seven is more than enough for me."

I nodded, I felt the same way. We got lucky; all seven of the kids were good kids. Yes AJ and Brody liked to raise hell, and Jocelyn was a whiner, but they were good. All of them got along for the most part too. Not in a creepy unnatural way, we had our fights here and there, but they weren't a daily occurrence.

"I still think you're crazy," Lissa told her with a shake of her head, "three is plenty," she added. I found it kind of amusing that Lissa would believe that. After all, everyone was convinced that she would have a bunch of children, and Rose wouldn't have one. Now, Rose and I had seven, while Lissa struggled with three.

"It isn't that bad, if you don't mind having no time for yourself," Rose said with a smile, "I wouldn't change it for the world," she said with a shake of her head.

And so the night went. Eventually the older kids were back, and after hearing about their night, it was bedtime. I was thankful to be able to lie down and sleep, but I was still worried about Anna-Marie. Alexei had asked if she was in a better mood, they had missed her at the movies and supposedly she had snapped at Emilie after practise. This wasn't how Anna-Marie was, never. I started to wonder if maybe Lissa's theory may be right.

**Short, boring, crappy. Anyways, I thought you needed some background information and there was some there. Let me know what you think, a proper review to come with the next chapter. **

**Read and Review! Since Reviews are love.**

**-CeilidhMae.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – The Conta Party Invitations.

**Anna`s Point of View.**

I wasn`t feeling well the next morning, so I slept in. Nine o`clock rolled around and I was still in bed, I wasn`t asleep but I wasn`t up either. I lay in bed looking up at the ceiling trying not to think, and wondering when the house would start to empty. I knew most of the older kids would be out of the house by now, running and organizing sports games ect5, but the youngsters would be running around. That meant that there would be adults around with them as well.

I tried not to think about last night, or about anything as I got up and took a shower, letting the water run over my body for about ten minutes without actually washing. My stomach was churning, and my head had a dull ache. Nope, I wasn`t going anywhere today. Today I was sitting up here, alone and refusing to see anyone.

After the shower I collapsed back into bed and glanced up at the ceiling again before getting up and pacing my room. This was going to be a long, boring day. I grabbed one of my school books off my shelf and flopped back on the bed and started flipping through it. It was about Strigoi, one of the new books we needed for next year. It was all about recognizing, killing, habits ECT. It was interesting, and it helped me pass the majority of the morning. By twelve o`clock even I (without my inserts) heard the cacophony that was created by the arrival of Tori and Eddie with their kids.

I should have gone down to see them, but at this distance I felt the headache start up again. I really didn`t want to deal with a fully fledged migraine right now. So, I put the book back and grabbed another one. This time it was a novel, one of my favourites Anne Rice`s Interview`s with the Vampire. Weird choice right? Seeing as I live in the world of Vampires.

I didn't hear the knock at my door, or my brother call my name until he was standing at the side of my bed, his green eyes (identical to dad's and mine) were pleading, "Annie?" He asked a little louder.

I jumped at the sudden sound right beside me, I really must have been out of it if I didn't feel him come in, "hey little buddy, what's up?" I asked him as I helped him onto the bed beside me.

He looked right at me so I could see his lips moving, so I could read them. He was a smart one, "Annie, what you reading?" He asked me pointing at the book.

"Something that Mommy wouldn't approve of for you little buddy," I told him gently.

"Oh," he said as he fiddled with the blanket on my bed, "Annie?" He asked me.

"Yes Pat," I said with a sigh, so much for a quiet day.

"Will you read Dr. Zoose to me and Chase?" He asked me. Yeah, most people pronounce it Seuss but not my little brother.

I smiled and looked towards the door. Tori's four year old son Chase was standing just inside my bedroom door. He looked a lot like Eddie, both were stocky, had dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. He was a cute kid, and got along well with Pat, "where's Mase at Chase?" I asked him with a smile.

He mumbled something that I didn't catch since I couldn't see his lips, "he says downstairs with Mommy, well his Mommy not ours, Mason isn't feeling well," Pat translated for me with a smile.

I felt bad for poor little Mason, he was a sweetie and I loved having him around. Too bad the little guy wasn't feeling well, "alright, go get a book or two, I'll read it," I told Pat.

He grinned grabbed me in a hug and jumped off the bed. I didn't see or hear what he said to Chase, but both boys took off out of the room and down the hall to Pat's room. I stood up and put my book back on the shelf and grabbed my inserts and put them in. They would be back soon enough. As I waited I ran a hair brush through my hair and tied it back in a neat, high ponytail.

Ten minutes later, Pat and Chase were back with what must have been half of Pat`s collection of Dr. Seuss books. I sighed, looks like my afternoon was pretty much planned out for me. I helped Pat up onto the bed, he was too short to get up on his own, looked like he would be about as tall as me and mom.

"Which one first?" I asked as Chase climbed up beside me. It ended up being Green Eggs and Ham, a personal favourite of mine. Afterwards, the Cat in the Hat, then One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Honestly, how can little kids enjoy these books so much? I think I read those three books in particular at least six times each.

Eventually it came to a point where I picked up a book just to find the pair of them asleep beside me. Thank god! I got off the bed as quietly as I could, trying not to wake them, stretched and pulled my comforter up over them. A glance at the clock showed it was almost three in the afternoon. I should wake them up, Mom and Tori weren't going to be impressed if they didn't sleep tonight, but right now it was my escape from reading Dr. Seuss.

I picked the books up off my bed, taking them back to Pat's room. As I passed Teresa's room I saw mom coming out, "Where did you leave your brother and Chase at Anna-Marie?" She asked me.

"What makes you think I left them anywhere?" I asked her with a smirk.

She sighed, "because Anna-Marie, unless you've taken a liking to Dr. Seuss you've been reading to him. Second off if he isn't with me then he's with you, and Chase is always with him when he's here," my Mother explained with a shake of her head.

"Are we really that predictable?" I asked with as I pushed the door open to Pat's room and walked over to the bookshelf and started putting books back on the shelf.

"All of you are," Mom told with from the door, "the only exceptions are AJ and Brody. I think they're around just to keep me on my toes," she finished.

"Great," I said as I rolled my eyes and shoved the last book onto the shelf and stood up, "their in my room, sleeping, " I told her, "and I'm making my escape while I still can, any idea where the others took off to?" I asked her. I didn't need to specify who the others were, she knew who I was talking about.

She shook her head, "I have no idea Anna-Marie," she told me, "AJ and Brody went with them though, and they said they were meeting Kyle at the end of the path," She shrugged, "other than that I couldn't tell you."

I snorted, "Great, I'll just start texting everyone until someone answers," I told her.

I was thankful that Mom didn't bring up yesterday at all during our little chat, I don't think I could have dealt with that. Instead, we were both quiet as we headed downstairs, "are you coming to the airport with Tash and Me to pick up your grandparents?" Mom asked me as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

I shook my head, "no, I'm going to go try and find everyone, and apologize to Emilie..." I trailed off. Great, I had been the one to bring it up.

"Why apologize?" Mom asked, her eyes curious. Of course, she never missed anything.

"I kind of snapped at her on our way home from practise last night, and said some things I probably shouldn't have," I told her flatly, the tone of my voice saying quiet clearly that this conversation was over.

She just nodded, "ok, have fun. Dinner is at six tonight, try to home," she told me with a smile.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not late that often!" I told her.

And then my mother laughed at me, "Anna-Marie you're more likely to be late then early, actually the last time you were early was..." She pretended to think about it for a moment.

"November 6th, 2014," I finished for her as I rolled my eyes. The day I was born, I was supposed to be born December 20th, 2014, but circumstances had made me a premi. I guess it had been touch and go for a bit too, I don't know. I was a little young to remember.

"That's about it," she said with a smile, "and don't roll your eyes at me Anna-Marie, I'd love to know where the lot of you got that from," she said with a snort.

"Yeah, as if there is any question," I told her as I passed her and headed for the kitchen. I knew there were a lot of people in the house, and I could feel the pressure starting to form behind my eyes, I would get a headache soon enough if I didn't get going.

"Anna-Marie, I know you're not leaving without at least saying hello," I heard Tori say as I passed the living room. She was sitting on the couch next to her husband Eddie, talking to Lissa, Christian and Dad.

I poked my head into the room and nodded, "I just spent the last three hours or so reading Dr. Seuss, three hours Tori, I am getting out of here as fast as I can before those two wake up," I told her as I pointed upstairs.

"Do you have them memorized yet?" She asked me.

"Just about," I responded. Tori was my second or third cousin, through my father, she was Nahkiti's half sister. Not that you could really deny them the resemblance. Nahkiti was shorter and her hair lighter, but they had the same dark brown eyes, and slim built. Well, Tori normally did, right now she was seven months pregnant with her third son and there was nothing slim about her.

"Don't worry until you have them memorized Anna," she told me with a smile. I heard my phones ringtone and reached for my pocket where I usually had it, "over here Anna, someone really wants to get a hold of you, your phone has been going off all morning," she told me.

"And no one could have brought it up?" I asked before crossing the living room and grabbing it. I flicked it open and read the message, _Where are you?_ It was from Aniya. I sent him a quick reply, _I'm at home, where are you guys?_ I then flicked through the new messages and alerts. Oh yeah, they had been after me all day. I had almost twenty missed calls, and twenty new messages.

"Your boyfriend trying to get a hold of you?" Tori joked. My father glared at her and I laughed. Did I mention I loved this girl?

"Nah, I told him to stop calling, I didn't need anyone here getting suspicious," I told her with a smile. My father's eyes narrowed considerably. He didn't like the idea of any of his daughters dating, ever. Especially seeing as I was the oldest at thirteen. Nope, most of the texts were from Emilie and Aniya, with one or two thrown in from Kyle and Lexie, and one from AJ.

"Who's trying to get a hold of you then?" Dad asked me after a moment.

I shrugged, "Emilie, and Aniya mostly. Although I do have about five here from the boys and one from my dear darling brother," I said with a snort, "Ironically I have twenty messages all saying the same thing, where are you?" I suddenly thought of something, "I should reply back to all of them with the same message, at home."

The mood was light at home, especially with the younger kids all sleeping, so it was a while before the pressure behind my eyes actually became a headache. A reply from Aniya saying they were over at Kyle's was the perfect excuse for me to go, "I gotta go," I told them after reading the message, "We'll be over at the Voda's mom," I told her as I got up and headed for the door.

"Alright, six o'clock Anna-Marie," she told me.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be here," I told her with a wave of my hand.

I shoved my feet into my shoes and took off out to the backyard. I crossed it at a jog and flicked the gate open, closed it and ran down the path. Once at the end I turned left and vaulted the low stone wall between the road and the Voda property. I slowed to a walk as the estate came into view. By the time I reached the front door, you couldn't even tell I had been running.

I knocked on the door and waited, "Hey Mark," I said as the Voda's doorman opened it and admitted me.

"Miss. Ivashkov, here to see Master Kyle?" He asked me in the same professional manner and grin he always wore when seeing me.

"Anna, Mark its Anna," I told him again. It was our little ritual, we greeted each other the same way every time I came over, "are they upstairs?" I asked him as I took off my shoes and placed them with the rest.

He nodded, "in Master Kyle's room, there is a gathering of them isn't there? Was it the Dragomir twins I saw come in with Miss Ozera and Miss. Johnson?" He asked me.

I nodded, "Yeah, Aniya and Lexie," I told him. It made me smile a little bit more when he referred to Miranda as Miss. Johnson. Most other doormen would have referred to her as the bloodwhore's daughter or something equally as rude.

"Interesting..." He trailed off before remembering where he was and who he was talking too, "go on up Miss. Ivashkov, I mean Anna," he told me with a smile.

"Thanks Mark, have a good day," I told him before heading up the main stair case. At the top I turned left and walked down the residents housing part of the estate. The right side would have taken me to guest housing.

"Hey Anna, I wasn't expecting to see you today," I had felt Mia before I saw her coming, but I didn't acknowledge her before she acknowledged me, it was only poliet after all.

"I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I slept in," I told her by way of explination.

"Ah, I see. Well I hope you're feeling better now," she said as she stopped and looked me up and down.

"I am, thank you," I thanked her.

"Anna!" I felt Juliette (both her energy and her weight) as she ran into me, yelling practically at the top of her lungs,.

"Hey sweetie," I said as I bent down to returned her hug. Juliette was five years old and would be going back to St. Vlad's with us this year. She looked a lot like her mother, except that her long, blonde curls were much darker then Mia's. However she was just as petite, and had the same big blue eyes.

"What is with the noise?" Kyle asked as he stuck his head out of his bedroom, two doors up and to the left from where we stood, "Oh hey Anna," he added quickly.

"Hey," I said as I released Juliette from the hug and stood up. I nodded politely to Mia and Juliette, "I'll see you two later," I told them as I walked towards the bedroom.

"So sleeping beauty has awoken," Lexie greeted me as I stepped into the large bedroom. Lexie was lounging on the floor next to the bed. His eyes were looking me over, and I was sure he did like what he saw.

Sitting at Kyle's desk was Emilie, her blue eyes weary of me, Aniya was in another chair not far from her. While AJ laid across the end of Kyle's bed. Miranda was sitting at the top of the bed, Kyle joined her there after shutting the door and Isaac was on the floor as well. Each one of them had a fancy looking piece of paper in their hands, except for Miranda.

"What are those?" I asked as I sat down beside Lexie. He handed his to me, "Invitations to the Conta dance?" I asked. The Conta family was HUGE around town. There was something like thirty of forty of them in town, and if rumours could be believed most of the Dhampir's in the next town were descendents. Every year, during the last week of summer break they held a huge dance for students ages 10 to fifteen or something like that. All the Royals were invited.

"Yours is at home, they delivered them late last night," AJ told me as he reached forwards and smacked the back of Lexie's head, "hands off my sister Dragomir," he told him.

I noticed at that moment that Lexie had tried putting his arm around my shoulders. I shot him a glare before speaking again, "so...Who's going?" I asked them.

"I'm always forced to go, which means this year Isaac will be forced to, I hope," Kyle spoke up. He was a year younger than us at twelve, and Isaac was ten this year, just old enough to go.

"I don't know," Emilie said with a sigh. Emilie liked a good dance or party if she could get in (and usually she did), but she didn't look overly excited about this one.

"Why not?" I asked her as I peered over the bed (and AJ's back) at her. Generally I didn't go, but who knew? If enough people were going then maybe I would.

She shrugged, "don't feel like it? Although, it's a great excuse to go into Sacramento's for a shopping trip," she said with a grin.

"Mom's going to want us there, and Vanessa, she got an invite too," Aniya said with a sigh. If the Dragomir kids went to this, they would be the center of attention, which didn't appeal to Aniya at all.

"Could be fun," was AJ's answer, "imagine the mischief..." He said as he trailed off in a day dream.

"If you go, you behave!" I told him suddenly. I didn't like the Conta family, actually I thought they were from the deepest darkest pits of hell, but that didn't matter. They could be dangerous in this town.

AJ rolled his eyes, "yeah, yeah."

"Well, we all know I won't be," Miranda said bitterly. I felt towards her, she was upset over a lack of invitation (not that she expected one), and she longed to go, even if it wasn't something she was really interested in. Things like this got to her sometimes.

I felt my mood darken considerably at this. Then Kyle spoke, "you can still come, we're allowed to bring guests," he told her gently with a smile.

"Yeah, I don't think so," she said, her mood wasn't lifting any, "what would I wear?" She asked him with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head.

"Like Emilie pointed out, we'd take a trip to Sacramento's..." Aniya started before Miranda waved her hand at her.

"I don't even have a phone at home because we can't afford it," she started, "there is no way I'll be able to go shopping," was her finishing line.

I felt like punching something now. Instead I leaned forwards and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to will the bad mood I was falling into away. Why did Miranda have to mention that? I knew she hated being poor, but between Kyle, Emilie and I, she would have looked as good as any of the royals.

Sometimes I forgot that Lexie and Aniya don't know Miranda really well, seeing as she doesn't attend the Academy with us. The looks on both of their faces said it all, they hadn't realized that. Surprise filled the room just from those two, and despite my rotten mood I suddenly wanted to laugh at them.

"I...Well..." Aniya stuttered before just shutting her mouth.

Emilie rolled her eyes, "Miranda, go if you want to, we'll help you out with everything! Girl you have more than enough natural looks to you, it won't take much to make you stunning," she told her.

Miranda wasn't in the mood for Emilie, even if what Emilie was saying was true. She snorted, "I'm tired of it! Always needing to get help, taking charity. I'm sick of it," Miranda whispered softly. We all knew it bothered her that she usually had to borrow from us. Even if we were willing to help her. And why shouldn't we? I knew for sure that my allowance alone was larger (probably by two or three digits) then what her and her mother lived off of. "Besides, Mama wouldn't want me going I don't think, she doesn't like me hanging around with Royals at the best of times," she said with a sigh.

No one said anything for a moment. The mood was heavy but I managed to push it away, hey maybe I could find a way to control this after all! "Well, if you want to go, let me know, you can come with me," Kyle told her softly.

"Thanks," Miranda said a little stiffly. She still didn't like the idea, I could tell, and her mood was getting to me.

I leaned my head against Lexie's shoulder and closed my eyes, trying to get rid of the headache that was beating against my skull. "You ok?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes and peered into his gorgeous, pale sea green ones and nodded, "yeah I'll be fine," I told him. Something in his eyes told me that he didn't believe me, not in the slightest. I'd probably here it from him later.

Eventually it was time to leave. My phone went off at five-thirty with a text from Tori telling me that I should probably gather everyone up and head home. I did and in a couple moments AJ, Aniya, Lexie, Emilie and I were all heading off down the Voda's driveway. At the end of it, Emilie left us and took off up the road to her place, she would be over later with Tasha, Dimitri and Taz for dinner, while the rest of us headed towards the path. Miranda had stayed at the Voda place.

"What's wrong Anna?" Lexie asked me. We were at the back of the group and he grabbed one of my hands keeping me from dropping back or catching up with anyone.

"Nothing Lex, I'm fine," I said in a low voice, trying to keep the others from hearing.

"Yeah, right," he said with a smirk, "we've been friends since we were in diapers Anna, I know when something's up," He told me, the grin falling from his face to be replaced with a frown, "I'm worried about you, and so is Emilie."

"I just...It's hard to explain Lex, I don't know!" My temper was quickly flaring up again, "I don't want to talk about it, not right now. Please?" I practically begged him as I pulled my hand out of his grip.

"Ok, fine then don't talk about it! Maybe it'll go away," he said sarcastically.

I chuckled softly before speaking, "I doubt it Lex."

**Sorry it took so long to update. I haven't been well, plus working weird shifts, and everything else. Anyways, I like this chapter. It really shows off the friendships a little more, and defines some of the characters personalities a bit. Plus you get to see where some of the relationships fit in. Poor Emilie and Aniya really seem to be the odd ones out don't they? I'll have to fix that. Next chapter is dinner, let's see how Anna makes it through that big a gathering when just her friends were a bit too much to deal with.**

**Anyways, read and review! Let me know what you think.**

**-CeilidhMae.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Anna's Point of View. **

I knew what was going to happen the moment I went downstairs and out into the yard where we were eating. I was going to get the mother of all migraines. That much was for sure. There were a million and one people invited for the Barbeque. I was hoping it would be a calm, easy atmosphere tonight, that way it would be easier on my head anyways.

"Your seriously wearing a tank top and cut offs Anna?" Aniya asked me, disbelief written all over her face.

I laughed at her and looked at myself in the mirror, "it looks good," I told her. I had on a navy blue tank top, and blue jean cut offs (which I had actually cut myself). I considered the cut offs, they came to just above my knees, so they weren't short, and the tank top went to my pants line. So we're not talking about showing off anything. Except for a tiny bit of cleavage, but it wasn't anything slutty.

"It does, but Anna shouldn't you dress up a bit?" She asked me as she pulled off her white tank top from the day and got out of her black jeans. She grabbed a light blue sundress that she pulled on over her head. It looked good on her.

I picked up my hair brush and ran it through my hair; it was getting really long now and fell to my mid back. I would have to get it cut before the Conta dance. I pulled it up to low, loose ponytail and popped in a pair of gold earning studs with Topaz set into them. Next I grabbed a thin silver chain and hooked it to my next. The pendent was a small silver butterfly.

"Are you forgetting who it's going to be here tonight? It's just my family and yours mostly," I told her with a smile.

She rolled her eyes, "here, get the zipper for me would you?" She asked as she turned around. I zipped it up and she turned around, stealing my hair brush from my dresser and running it through her long blonde hair, "you do realize like four out of twelve of the royal families will be represented right?" She asked me as she pulled some of her hair back into a tight bun, letting the rest of it cascade down her back.

"Dragomir, Ivashkov, Ozera and Voda," I rhymed off as I sat myself down on my bed and lay back, gazing at the ceiling, "and you do know that we've been friends with these people since we were in diapers right? I mean, our parents were friends with them at school Aniya! If you can point out one adult that hasn't changed your diapers, besides the guardians but even then I would be surprised, then I will buy you outfit for the Conta ball," I told her with a smile.

"Deal," Aniya said with a smile. I just sighed, this was one of the bets I knew I would win. I could feel Aniya's smugness, she thought she would win. "What if you win?" She asked me.

"As in what? You can't find someone who hasn't changed your diapers?" I asked her, she nodded, "you buy my outfit," I told her with a shrug.

"Fine," she took a step towards the bed and grasped my hand in a firm grip, "Ivashkov you are so going down," she told me with a smile.

I rolled my eyes, "yeah right, come on in guys," I yelled suddenly. I had felt Emilie and Miranda before they even reached my bedroom. Aniya gave me a strange look just as Emilie and Miranda opened my door and came in.

"How do you do that?" Aniya asked me suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I asked her as I sat up.

"You knew they were there, I didn't hear them, meaning you didn't Anna, but you knew someone was there, and it seemed like you knew it would be Em and Miranda." She told me.

"So? It's just...I know when people are coming," I told her.

Emilie just smiled as she sat down beside me. She was wearing a light pink tank top (which cut considerably lower than it really should), with a black skirt that fell to just past her knees. Her black hair was brushed and straightened, she had left it loose, and in her ears were two sets of hoop ear rings. "Aniya is right Anna, it is weird, but then you are weird to begin with," she said, "Hey by the way do you have a chain I borrow?" She asked me with a smile. In her hands was a small pendent, it was a flat silver heart with a small flame (it looked like a candle flame to me) in the center. One amethyst was set into it.

"You have a lot of nerve asking me that after calling me weird Em," I told her as I got up and went over to my dresser. Beside it I had a set of four hooks on the wall. Two of them held necklaces, two held book marks. I found a plain silver chain and threw it at her, "there, I want it back though." I told her. I knew full well I probably wouldn't get it back, not for a while anyways.

"Will do Anna, will do," Emilie said as she put the charm on the chain and tried fastening it around her neck.

"Here, I'll get it," Miranda told her with a shake of head. After almost five minutes Emilie still hadn't gotten the chain fastened. I took notice of Miranda; she must have gone to Emilie's house before coming here. She had on a pair of black jeans (Miranda really, really hates skirts and shorts), and a long sleeved grey shirt. Her hair was down and hanging around her neck.

"Who's all here?" I asked as I looked in my closet for a light sweater. It may be the middle of August, but it was still chilly during the human night, vampric day, whatever you wanted to call it.

"You, Miranda, Aniya and Me," Emilie said as Miranda clipped the chain. Emilie gave her hair a toss, getting to fall back into a black curtain down her back.

"Ok, besides the obvious?" I asked her with a roll of my eyes.

"Mom, Dad and Taz, Lissa, Christian and Lexie are all downstairs with the rest of your family," she said with a look that told me she was thinking, "except for Tash, I didn't see her down there. Saw your grandparents though, and of course Tori, Eddie and the kids," she finished with a shrug.

I held up two light sweaters, one black and one a dark grey, "the black one," Aniya told me as she finished with her hair and popped in a couple earrings and put on her necklace. It was silver as well, with a small dragon wrapped around a cross.

"Kyle and his family are coming by later," Miranda said softly. I looked at her again, fear was radiating from her, fear and nerves. I shuttered as it hit me, just what I needed.

"You guys should stay here tonight, after it's all said and done," I told them suddenly. I don't know what made me suggest it, but it was out and there's was no taking it back, "mom won't mind I'm sure," I added quickly. The three of them agreed, not that Aniya had much of a choice; she was staying her for the rest of the summer.

"Don't bother knocking Lex," I called suddenly, causing the other three girls to jump.

".!" Emilie hissed.

"It's creepy," Aniya agreed with a nod.

"Wish I could do that," Miranda mumbled to herself.

It was indeed Lexie who opened the door, only I hadn't realized he was being followed. Kyle, Isaac and AJ were with him, "hey," he said as a confused look came over his face. He looked from me, to Aniya to Emilie, to Miranda and back to me.

"Did we interrupt something" Kyle asked, his blue eyes a little weary.

I took one glace at each of my girlfriends and smiled. Suddenly the four of use burst out laughing. The looks on the boy's faces were just too much.

"What?" AJ asked his light brown eyes met mine I just shook my head and grinned. For being two years younger than me, AJ was alright, even if he was the worst instigator going.

"So, are you girls coming downstairs sometime or no?" Lexie asked looking right at me. There was something different in his eyes now. As he looked from me to Aniya, then to Emilie and even to Miranda I saw them change, but they never looked the same as when he looked at me. And Emilie called me weird?

"Yeah, let's go," I said as I stepped past Lexie and the boys and into the hallway, nearly running into my sister, Tash, "hey" I told her with a smile. Tash was the next girl in the family, she was ten years old, but to talk to her you'd think she was twenty. Seriously the girl didn't know how to have fun.

"Hey Anna," she told me with a smile. Her red hair (she was the only one in the family without brown hair) was pulled into a French braid, and she had on a green t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Easily she was the prettiest of the four girls; I would kill for her red hair. She stopped before speaking again, "Anna can I talk to you?" She asked me as she looked down the hall towards her bedroom.

"Yeah sure, hey I'll see you guys downstairs," I told the others as I followed my sister down the hall. Tash's room was large like mine, minus the private bathroom; hers was connected to Jocelyn's room. I sat on her neatly made bed and looked at her, "what's up?"

She sighed and sat beside me, "Belinda Conta is at it again Anna," she said in a serious voice that seemed misplaced on a kid her age.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, my eyes met hers and I got it then, "they've been picking on Jocelyn again haven't they?" She nodded. I felt the anger I had kept suppressed all day rise to the top again. Jocelyn wouldn't defend herself, period. The girl had a heavy punch for an eight year old, heavy enough to leave a couple bruises on me anyways, but she wouldn't stand up to them.

"I told her to just ignore them but Anna it's getting bad!" Tash told me, her green eyes filled with hurt and anger, just like mine were, "we've got to do something!" Her temper was rising, and if there was one thing I learned after living with her all these years, is that she had a temper.

"I know, I know, but Tash we can't, Jocelyn either has to hall off and break Conta's nose, or she needs to talk to mom and dad," I told her. I put and arm around my sister's shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

"Not yet Anna, talk to her, please? Belinda I mean, she has to leave Joce alone, it'll only get worse when we go back to school," she told me.

I nodded she was right. Jocelyn wasn't going to resort to violence and getting mom and dad involved was a last resort, "I'll talk to her, but if this is going on at the end of the week, we have to tell someone else."

Tash nodded in agreement, "fine, let's go downstairs now Anna, Nana, Nanny and Granddad were upset that you didn't come with me and Mom to get them," Tash told me with a small smile. Somehow, I was sure she was exaggerating.

Fifteen minutes later I felt the beginnings of another headache starting as I stood outside, chatting with my friends and family. I was talking to my Nanny (mom's mom), Nahkiti and Nahkiti's younger sister, Kitty. I would start my official guardian training in the fall.

"It's not as bad as people like to make it out to be, just keep up with your work and you'll do fine," Nanny told me before adding, "besides, both the Hathaway side and the Ivashkov side of your linage is known for turning out talented Guardians, you'll do fine," she finished.

"She already does well Janine, you should sit in on one of her training sessions while you're here. Trust me, she's good," Nahkiti said with a smile.

I returned it, "Thanks," I mumbled. I didn't think I was good per say, I was good when you compare me to kids my age, but the way Kiti was talking, it was like I could take on a senior and win or something. Nope, I definitely wasn't there yet.

"I may just have to, it you don't mind Anna-Marie?" She asked me.

I shrugged, "yeah, sure," I told her. My Nanny just smiled and gave me a hug, "look I gotta go talk to Lexie and them for a minute," I said suddenly. My headache spiked as someone became upset over something. Glancing around I could see a clouded look on Emilie's face as she talked to Lexie and Aniya. Aniya looked upset over something.

"Hey you ok?" I hissed at Aniya as I jogged over and came to a stop beside her. She was sitting on a bench under a tree. Her face in her hands, she was crying just a little.

"Yes...No..." She said as she looked up at me, her ice blue eyes still filled with tears.

"What happened?" I asked as I sat down beside her, looking from Emilie to Lexie.

"Well...We...Umm..." Lexie began before pointing at Emilie, "Em can explain it a little better I think," he said.

"What? Thanks Lex," she said rolling her eyes. Her electric blue eyes met mine and she sighed before speaking, "It's like this. Kyle asked, well practically begged, Miranda to go to the Conta dance with him and well..." She trailed off looking a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden, "Aniya may have said something to upset Miranda unintentionally and Miranda sort of blew up on her and stalked off." Emilie finished hurriedly.

"What did you say Aniya?" I asked her give as I put my arm around her shoulder in a comforting gesture. For Miranda to blow up it had to be bad.

"I...Well," she took a deep breath before speaking, "I just said it might be best if she didn't go," she told me her pale blue eyes meeting mine, "hey don't look at me like that Anna! You know it's true! If she were to go, then she would never hear the end of it, period. If she went with a Royal! Just imagine it? Seriously, she would be blacklisted so quickly, especially with the Conta's around here," she told me her blue eyes hard and serious.

"Really Aniya? Why would it matter? She already is black listed by the Conta's," I told her. My headache was bad now. The decorative lights outside were just making everything that much worse. I felt eyes on me from behind, great. I had been loud enough to grab someone else's attention, "why can't you just lay off her Aniya? Seriously," I said as I leaned forward and rubbed my temples.

"It's not like I mean to be nasty Anna!" Aniya hissed back, "I try to be nice, but honestly? She's a nice girl, but she has no business with a Royal."

"Who does Aniya?" I asked her with a snarl, "By all respects my mother shouldn't have married my father, because she's a common Dhampir, no royal blood. The same can be said for Emilie's parents and Tori and Eddie. What does blood really mean?" I asked her without looking up, "I can't do this, I'll talk to you guys later," I said as my headache spiked again. I stood up and took off at a levelled walk towards the house.

"Anna, wait." I felt Lexie behind me more then I registered his voice.

"What Lex?" I asked him. Déjà Vu was playing in my mind from earlier.

"You sure you ok?" He asked me as he fell into step beside me.

I shrugged, "No, I'm not Lex. I just...I can't deal with this right now, sorry," I told him as I stopped and looked up at him. Worry was written all through his sea green eyes. His black hair was shoulder length and blowing in the summer breeze. He was wearing a light grey t-shirt and black jeans, and he looked gorgeous. Not that honestly I would even consider dating him at any point. He was practically my brother after all.

"Anna..." He began as I turned around and started back towards the deck.

I stole a quick glance around to see if anyone was looking at us. Thankfully, the only one who seemed to have noticed anything was Tori, she wouldn't rat me out. "It's fine Lex, I just need to calm down and get something to drink. Give me ten minutes ok?" I asked him as we reached the back door.

"Ten minutes, fine. But Anna, if you need anything..." He trailed off.

"Yeah, I know where you're at," I told him with a smile as I opened the door and slid into the kitchen.

**Interesting...Not much to comment on here, let me know what you think.**

-CeilidhMae.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Making Connections

**Tori's Point Of View.**

It was peace and it was calm in the background for the most part. A I sat in a semi circle watching my boys and talking with friends I was oddly reminded of a time just after Rose`s trail when we were doing this at my families place in Russia. I was sitting at one end, Adrian and then Rose were beside me. As the semi circle curved around Nahkiti, Kitty, Tasha and Dimitri were there and Lissa and Christian were at the end with Mia and Richard. Of course, Janine and Daniella had also eventually joined us. I felt a pinch in my chest, the only one that was missing was Anastasiya, Nahkiti and Kitty`s mother.

"Earth to Tori," I was snapped out of my reverie as Lissa waved a hand in front of me, I made to slap it away and grinned.

"What?" I asked her as I laid my hand on my swollen stomach. Baby boy number three could come anytime now as far as I was concerned. Well, maybe not any day, I was eight and a half months along now and huge.

"When is this one due?" Daniella asked me with a smile. I liked Daniella, we were never close but we got along well.

"Not soon enough," I grumbled as I took a sip of water, "September 16th is my due date though," I said with a smile, "but he's coming early," I added quickly as I rubbed my stomach, "or at least he better be, I don't know if I can take much more or this," I said as my hand got kicked.

"Going to try again for a girl?" Rose asked me.

I glanced across the yard towards where the smaller kids were playing. Eddie was with our two older boys, Patrick and Juliette. Chase Edison was the eldest at four, and then there was Mason Thomas who was two. With everything that I had ever done wrong, I still managed to get the two (soon to be three) greatest gifts in my life. Not that it had been easy. Chase was my third pregnancy; I lost the first two babies before I was even ten weeks along. It had been hard, but nothing was worse than the next one.

See, there should have been a little girl between Chase and Mason, Isabella May. I had been thrilled to find out I was having a little girl, and the pregnancy had been going very well. My last ultrasound before my due date was at thirty six weeks, that's when we found out her heart had just stopped. The doctor's couldn't offer any explanation to why, it just happened. All three babies that I had lost were girls, and I've just come to the realization that for whatever reason, I couldn't have a daughter. Not unless I adopted.

"No, this is the last one," I said as I put on a fake smile and ploughed through the question, "I'll have three little boys running around, that's enough." I said with a laugh. It was true, although Chase was usually quiet around a lot of people; he was full of energy, while Mason was generally stuck to my side. I was a little concerned about how he would do with a little brother.

"Does he have a name yet?" Aunt Daniella asked me.

I shrugged, "not yet. He'll be here before he has a name I'm sure," I rolled my eyes.

Mia laughed, "Isaac was the same way, and actually he was two days old before he had a name." She told me, "Juliette was named after she was born too." Mia I knew had been in the same boat I was now. She had planned for only two children, and gotten three. Not that she didn't love Juliette, or that I wouldn't love this little boy, but they had surprised us.

Rose snorted, "Am I destined to be the only one with more than three kids here?" She asked with grimace.

"Three is plenty, you guys are mental," Lissa said with a frown.

Adrian shrugged, "I don't think so, it's hard but we get through it," he said before taking a sip of whatever he was drinking. Actually I had to give it to Adrian and Rose; they raised all their children on their own. They had a cook and a couple maids to help clean up, but none of the kids had ever had a nanny. Rose wasn't comfortable with the idea and Adrian had wanted his kids to know exactly who their parents were, so there was no outside help. Except for the month during the summer when we all got together. Eddie and I were raising our boys the same way.

I was still sitting with the other adults when Anna's little explosion happened. I looked up and caught her eye before she stomped off across the yard. Alexei was hot on her heels. Her aura was strange; it was radiating red and orange, colors that usually said someone was pissed. However, the edge was ringed black, deep black. I looked from Anna, to Rose and back. It was the same thing.

"Adrian look," I told him as I elbowed him in the side and nodded towards Anna.

"Yeah, Anna-Marie and Alexei are talking, what's the issue cousin?" He asked me.

I rolled my eyes and snorted, "I mean LOOK," I told him with a little more force, he still didn't get it so I was more direct, "her aura," I told him.

He took another look as Anna headed into the house and Alexei just watched her go before heading back across the yard to where AJ and Brody were. "Whoa..." He said as the door to the house was practically slammed.

"What?" Rose asked as she looked between Adrian and I and back.

"Its...Black, Anna's aura, well it's ringed black," I told her as I rested a hand on my swollen stomach, "I've only ever seen it once before."

"Mine," Rose said softly.

Lissa was listening now, she shook her head before speaking, "that would suggest that Anna is shadow kissed, and she isn't." She told us.

"Are you sure?" I asked looking between the three of them.

Lissa nodded, "I was there just after she was born, she wasn't breathing, but her heart was beating. She had a lot of fluid built up in her lungs, and they needed a jump start. That's it," she explained. I gave her a doubt full look and she leaned forwards, her jade green eyes meeting my brown ones, "I couldn't have done anything else at that point Tori," she told me.

I considered it for a moment before nodding, "no, you couldn't have," I said more to myself than anyone else. Lissa had been pregnant at that time with the twins, and although most of the elemental magic's could safely be used while pregnant, spirit wasn't one of them. That wasn't right either though. Checking out people's auras and even a small amount of compulsion was possible. However, healing and reviving were out of the question. Or should have been.

"Then what caused it?" Rose practically demanded. Here we go, protective mother mode.

"Could be nothing, could be something," I told her with a sigh, "I will tell you though, she's pissed about something." I added before I started to stand, "I'm going to talk to her, "I told them suddenly.

"Tori I'll go..." Adrian began before I cut him off.

"No, no I need water anyways; I'll be fine," I told him with a smile, "besides, maybe she'll open up a bit to someone outside the immediate family. Don't worry, I'll let you know if something serious is up," I told them as I stood up and walked across the yard.

When I entered the house I found Anna standing by the sink, one hand was to her face, and the other was on the counter holding her up. A glass of water was beside her, and her back was to me. Still though, without looking up she knew I was there, "hey Tori," she said softly without turning around.

"You..." She interrupted me before I could finish my sentence.

"Ok?" She asked as she removed the hand from her face and took a swig of her water. "No, I'm not ok," She said simply, her voice was tense and she sounded on the brink of a complete breakdown. I stole a glance at her aura, it was still reddish orange in color, but it was fading slightly to a nice green/blue, not quiet ok, but closer.

"What's the matter Anna?" I asked her as she finished her glass of water and turned around.

"I don't know," she whispered to me, her green eyes pleading for me to believe her.

I sat down at the table and motioned for her to join me, "what caused the scene outside?" I asked her, trying a different approach.

"I..." She trailed off as she sunk into the chair across from me, "I don't know really. I was talking to Nanny, Kiti and Kitty, and then I felt something..." She trailed off, looking down at the table.

"What did you feel?" I asked her, I was curious. Most people would have looked over that choice of worlds, but I didn't miss much.

"Promise not to laugh or think I've lost it?" She asked me.

Normally I would have laughed if a kid asked me this, but the look on Anna's face told me she was completely serious, "promise," I told her. I was kind of hoping she'd finally open up a little.

"I felt...Well, I had a headache to begin with, I always do when I'm around a large group of people, but when Aniya and Miranda got into a fight over the Conta ball, I..." She trailed off again and sighed before continuing, "My headache got a lot worse. Then I was in a bad mood, it was weird I was fine before their fight. I went to talk to Lexie, Em and Aniya about what happened and it got a lot worse there too." She finished before shrugging, "weird right?" She asked me.

"Weird," I agreed with a nod before speaking, "What else aren't you telling me Anna?" I asked her suddenly.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her guard rising.

"This isn't it is it? There are other things that are happening to you, that you don't understand," I pointed out, "your aura even now Anna is black, I've never seen it on anyone except your mother," I told her. She just gave me a strange look and I sighed before I started to get up, I needed some water.

"Here, I'll get it," Anna said quickly grabbing both our glasses and heading to the fridge. She grabbed the pitcher of ice water and poured us each a glass before bringing them back to the table, "your right Tori, that's not just it," She told me.

"What else Anna?" I asked her with a smile.

"I..." She trailed off once again, "I can feel people when they're coming. Like this afternoon, Aniya and I were getting ready for the barbeque, and I...I don't know what happened, but before even Aniya heard them coming, I knew Emilie and Miranda were coming. I yelled at them just to come in, and then I did it again with Lexie." She explained.

"Interesting," I mused, "do you know who is coming? Or do you have to wait till you see them?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "a little of both. People I know really well I can tell who they are. Strangers and such not so much." She paused before commenting again, "why can I do that though?" She asked me.

Instead of giving her an answer I asked her, "Have you ever seen any type of faded colors or fields around people?"

"Like auras and such?" She asked me, I nodded and she shook her head, "never. I just feel them, and it gets really annoying. I mean, most times I can block it out. I just know what they're feeling, but sometimes, if the feeling is strong enough, it's like it's my feelings."

I felt my eyes go wide at this, "like they're your own feelings?" I asked her.

She nodded, "yeah, earlier when we were at Kyle's place and discussing the Conta dance, Miranda was getting really upset over it. I was in a good mood before, but as her temper rose, so did mine. Suddenly I was sitting there with a killer headache and a bad mood, does that make any sense?" She asked.

"In a way it does," I told her, "you were exposed to a lot of Spirit magic before you were born, and even after," I started to explain to her, "it's possible that because of this, you are more in tuned with the people around you. What worries me is that you're taking on their moods, do the other people generally seem better after this happens?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "sometimes," she admitted.

"Do you get worse if they feel better, or do your headaches?" I asked her, the baby suddenly kicked me hard enough to be painful.

"Are you ok?" Anna asked me as it happened.

I just nodded, "yeah, I'm fine, now what's the answer to the question Anna?" I asked her.

She sighed, "I don't know, I just...Sometimes I guess, I've never really thought about it," She told me.

Interesting, so it would seem like her mother, Anna took in negative energy. Unlike her mother, it seemed to be from whoever was around, where with Rose it was just Lissa...I nodded my head slowly as I rubbed my stomach, trying to calm the baby down a bit, "interesting..." I mused to myself.

"What's interesting?" Anna asked me suddenly, her green eyes eager for any answer.

"Well, the Spirit magic you were exposed to changed you," her face fell, she had already figured that out, "it's given you a rare gift and curse, I would say that it's time for a chat with your parents Anna," I told her seriously.

"No," she said, her face hard as stone.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Because, they have enough to worry about with the other kids," she told me as she dropped her eyes from mine.

"And you're a lousy liar Anna, why don't you want to talk to them?" I asked her.

This time she looked up and stared straight into my eyes, "because, this is one more thing that will keep me out of training next year."

**I love Tori's character, and I like Anna's...They make an interesting couple me thinks. Anyways, here is a little connector chapter, I like it. Next up will be a chat with Anna and her parents. Actually, this story isn't going to be very long. Can't lie there guys. Sorry, but there's a possibility it'll only be about fifteen chapters. Not near as long as Forty Weeks of Hell. **

** Anyways, love? Hate? Let me know!**

** -CeilidhMae.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

** Rose's Point of View. **

The day's events had finished, and most people were in bed by now, or at least getting ready anyways. Not me though, and not Adrian or Anna-Marie either. As I stood in the main sitting room my arms crossed, I watched Anna-Marie, who stood with her back to her father and me, looking out the window. No doubt she was glaring rather than looking. Adrian sat on the couch, quiet as usual, and in the center of the room on the coffee table sat an opened letter from St. Vladimir's, outlining the concern the school had for Anna-Marie's continuation of study.

I sighed; Anna-Marie hadn't said two words since we had asked her to come talk to us. I had explained the schools reluctant to have her continue studying, and I had asked her what had been bothering her the last couple days. Nothing. She just shrugged and asked what should be bothering her?

How? How had I ended up with an introvert as a child? Although Adrian (most times) thought about what he said, I tended to just blurt them right out. The point being we both had no problem saying what was on our minds. Anna-Marie though? My god it was like pulling teeth!

Scratch that, pulling teeth would be easier.

"Anna-Marie," I sighed after an uncomfortable moment, "come on, you have to say something." I told her simply.

"What's there to say?" She asked without turning around. Her voice was steady, but call it a mother's intuition, or whatever you want really, I knew she was upset about this. "The decision's already been made hasn't it?" Her arms where crossed to her chest as she watched the lightning of the sky outside, "and I may add, it's been made without my input." She finished.

"Anna..." I started again just to have her finally turn around and face me.

People have always told me that Anna-Marie was me all over again. I didn't see it, at least not most times. She was quiet, reserved and let others (mostly Emilie and Lexie) take charge (however, I had noted on various occasions that she could take charge if she wanted to), and she usually argued in a calm, easy way. Stating facts and making her opinion quiet clear. I had always believed that besides the dark brown, almost black hair, short, curvy built and tanned sky, she was Adrian's child through and through.

Now though I was being proven how wrong I was.

"Don't you dare say it's for my own good," she snarled, her green eyes were blazing. I was startled for a moment; I had never seen her pissed off. "You really want to know what I think? It's bullshit!" Her voice was trembling now, and I saw her fighting back tears.

"Watch you language," I told her sharply, perhaps a little too sharply then I really needed too.

She rolled her eyes and pointed at the letter, "why do they get to make the decisions?" She asked, "It's not like the Headmistress knows what I can and can't do, their just judging me on my stupid hearing issue," She said with a snort.

I didn't say anything for a moment I just sighed and shook my head, "because you 'stupid hearing issue' is going to give you a massive disadvantage in the field..." I start, but Anna-Marie rolled her eyes again and interrupted me.

"Prove it," she said simple and to the point. When I didn't answer she smirked and shook her head.

"I can't," I gave voice to the words she was thinking, "But Anna-Marie you don't understand..."

"What it's like out there? What Strigoi really are like? Save it mom, I've heard this all before," she said with a snort.

"Enough with the attitude young lady, "I told her. She didn't say anything, but her green eyes didn't leave mine. Just behind us on the couch I could feel Adrian's eyes moving between us. He wasn't going to say much, he never did, unless he had to.

Maybe that's why it surprised me when he spoke, "what's wrong baby girl?" He asked her, using the pet name he had for it. It had stuck ever since she was a baby.

Her eyes dropped from mine to the floor for a moment, before she turned and looked back outside. She crossed her arms after a moment of thinking, and then shook her head, "I don't know, it's..." She stopped and sighed before moving to a chair on the opposite side of the room and practically throwing herself into it.

"From the beginning Anna," he told her gently. I stayed standing, just watching the interaction between father and daughter.

I knew full well that Adrian loved all his children, but he and Anna-Marie had always had a special connection. Right from the time I found out I was pregnant, till this day. As I watched them now, I knew that what my frustrated argument hadn't yielded, his calm, steadfast and no non-sense approach would.

She sighed before speaking, "I don't want people making this decision," again she motioned towards the letter with her hand, "for me! Can't I have a say in my own future?" She asked, Adrian just nodded but didn't speak. Anna-Marie (surprisingly) kept speaking, "it's not...I understand the whole my hearing is going to be a disadvantage, but I...I think I can work around it." She said, her eyes were thoughtful as she studied her feet again, refusing to meet either of our eyes.

"Anna-Marie," I sighed again, "your hearing aids help, but what if you don't have them? You can't were them all the time, and you may not have time to put them in," I tried reasoning with her.

She looked up at me, "your right," she told me, much to my shock.

"Excuse me?" I asked her, still a little stunned.

"Your right," she said again as her eyes went back to her feet. She moved her sock covered toes once before speaking again, "which means I should start practising without them," she said matter-of-factly.

"No way kiddo, no," I told her shaking my head. There was no way I could let her do that! "You would be...You wouldn't..." I couldn't bring myself to say much, except stutter through a couple starting phrases.

"Look, mom I get it, ok? Believe it or not, I'm not stupid. I know all the reasons I shouldn't do this," Anna-Marie sat up and leaned forwards, her elbows on her knees and her hands together. She looked down at them, thinking. It made her look older then her thirteen years, "but I want to do this, what else is there for me?" She asked looking up.

"Anything you want to do Anna-Marie," I told her softly, "do the academic courses, go to college, seriously you could do so much more. Why are you so dead set on being a guardian?" I asked her.

"Why are you so dead set against it?" She countered, "I can guarantee that two years from now, AJ won't have this problem, nor will Tash get hassled about it."

That, stung. Mostly because, she was right. The rest of the children would be expected to finish their guardian training. Now, weather they choose to become guardians or not was another matter. Hell, if one of the girls decided they wanted to join a dhampir commune and spend the rest of their lives entertaining Moroi men...Well ok, that may be drawing the line. The point? My children were going to be able to choose where they wanted to go.

"Momma, why? Why don't you want me doing this?" She asked me after a moment.

"Why?" I asked her back, she nodded. There were so many reasons for that, "I don't want you to get hurt Anna-Marie," I told her simply.

Whatever head way we had made then was lost. She stood up quickly and shot me a nasty look, "wake up for a moment mom!" She said suddenly, "Anyone of us could get hurt doing this. The chance of a guardian living past twenty-five is low." she chocked back some tears before finishing her rant in a low whisper, "I don't want to be treated like I'm made of glass anymore, I want to do this! I CAN do this!" She told me seriously.

"Anna-Marie..." I warned her, she was getting upset again, and I had a feeling yelling would soon ensue. I really didn't want her waking up either of the babies right now.

"Mom!" She said back, "Would you just shut up for a minute and listen?"

I honestly felt right then and there that I had been slapped in the face. Out of all my children, if you told me Anna-Marie would tell me to shut up, I'd tell you that you were crazy.

"Anna-Marie Janine Ivashkov, enough!" Both of us jumped when Adrian's voice cut into the argument, this time it wasn't kind, or gentle like it usually was. He didn't get angry easily, and honestly? He never lost his temper with the kids, well except for the day that AJ, Brody and Lexie had decided to go exploring past the towns wards, at night. Man, that hadn't been fun to watch, between Adrian and Christian I didn't know who was scarier to be honest. And neither man scared me.

"Don't you talk to your mother like that Anna-Marie," he told her, his green eyes hard and locked on hers.

Anna-Marie, to her credit, didn't back down. She lifted one hand and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her eye before simply removing her inserts and setting them on the table in front of her father. Her eyes didn't have the same resolve as they did before, and I knew that she knew she hadn't just crossed the line. She had stomped on it.

"I'm done, do what you guys want, it doesn't seem to matter what I think," Anna-Marie said simply before turning on her heel and walking out of the room. I heard her walk up the stairs, down the hall, and then promptly slam her door, hard.

"Great" I muttered as I walked to the couch and sat down beside my husband.

He didn't say anything, just kept looking from her inserts to the letter and back. I just sat there for a moment before laying my head against his shoulder and sighing deeply. I didn't like this, and neither did he.

When he finally he spoke, it was quiet and his voice was a bit shaky, "this isn't what's bothering her the most," he said tapping the letter with one finger.

I sat up and looked at him, "what do you mean?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I don't know, but I know I'm right, Anna-Marie NEVER blows up like that, and she doesn't give in like that either, something else is bothering her," He told me simply.

"Ok..." I started, "any ideas what?" I asked him as I again moved closer to him.

This time he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. He kissed the top of my head lightly before speaking again, "None, but I'm going to find out what," he told him simply before bending down and placing a kiss on my lips before getting up. He picked up Anna-Marie's inserts and headed for the door.

I laid with my head on the arm of the couch, "let me know what you find out, if you find out anything," I told him before he left the room.

He just nodded before disappearing from sight. I listened as he climbed the stairs, and knocked softly on Anna-Marie's door.

It was just then that Teresa started crying. I sighed to myself and stood up, heading for the two year olds room to try and get her back to sleep before she woke the house up.

**Oh my god! Not an update?**

Yep, and just in time for the release of Last Sacrifice. If you don't have your copy, get one! I just got mine and I am half way through it already! Six months of waiting has payed off...I won't give it away though ;)

** In all seriousness though, I am sorry for not updating. Hopefully, with me reading Last Sacrifice, this will get me back into the VA world (my mind has been with a certain Succubus named Georgina for the last couple weeks...) and more updates! Both here and with Amicizia, or anyways here's to hoping. **

**Reviews are love!**

-CeilidhMae.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9.

**Adrian's Point of view.**

I knocked gently on Anna's bedroom door, knowing full well she couldn't hear me, but it was the principle of the thing. Privacy was one of those things that needed to be protected, and knocking on a closed door was one of the first things we taught our children was it not?

I was more than a little surprised when I opened the door and peaked in. I half expected to see Anna crying to be honest. In retrospect though, maybe that wasn't true. She was a lot like her mother, she was tough. No, she wouldn't cry over this, no, knowing Anna, she was plotting out how to get around it.

She didn't sit up when I entered, closing the door behind me. Instead, she stayed lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, "what do you want now?" She snapped after a minute.

"To talk," I told her as I crossed her room, set her hearing aids on her bedside table, and then sat at the end of her bed, "what's wrong Anna," I asked her.

She just snorted and rolled over, her back to me, "did you just sleep through that conversation down there?" She practically snarled.

Now, Anna had her mother's temper, no doubt about it, but she was never outwardly nasty either. Not with me, or her mother, or anyone for that matter. No, generally when she threw around attitude, she was sarcastic yes, but...It was hard to explain. With the biggest reason being because she never threw around attitude.

"Anna," I said softly, mostly to myself. Even though we were this close together, she probably didn't hear me. I just sat there for a moment before placing a hand gently on her shoulder, which promptly got shrugged off. Sighing, I felt my frustration build; it had to better on the pair of us for me to walk away now, right?

Even if it was the right choice, I couldn't bring myself to walk away. Not when my daughter needed me.

Instead I lay down beside her, and moved a piece of hair behind her ear, "talk to me Anna," I told her softly. I knew she heard me this time, there was really no way she couldn't, but she didn't change her stance any.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug against my chest. To my surprise she didn't tense up or try to pull away. Instead she rolled over, facing me for the first time. Tears were in her eyes now as she buried her face into my chest, and just sobbed. I held her close; I had no words of comfort to offer her. It wouldn't have mattered anyways, she didn't want to be comforted, and she just wanted to cry away her frustrations.

Five minutes passed, then ten, twenty and then half an hour passed before her sobs came to a halt. She didn't say anything for a few moments after that, and I just waited for her. As much as I wanted her to talk to me, I couldn't force her into it either.

"I really messed that one up didn't I Daddy?" She asked me after a moment. We both sat up, but she stayed leaned against my side.

I nodded slightly before kissing the top of her head, "not your brightest hour, that's for sure Baby girl," I told her honestly.

She snorted at this before continuing, "mom probably hates me know, but..." She sighed before sitting up further and resting her head against the beds head board. I watched as she closed her eyes for a second, and then shook her head, "it's just so hard sometimes!" She said suddenly, the temper from earlier was gone, thank God for small miracles.

"Anna, your mother will never hate you," I told her gently, "although, she's probably not too happy with you right now," I told her. Again, honesty was always the best way to go, at least that's what I had always believed.

She nodded, "I know, it's just...I hate it!" She said without looking at me again.

"What Anna?" I asked her. I had to speak a little louder then I had been for this question, she wasn't looking at me, there for watching my lips was out of the question.

"Everything and nothing. Oh, Daddy!" She rested her hand against my shoulder again and I placed my arm around her again, holding her close. "I don't like being different," she finished after a minute, "everyone wants to treat me like glass just because I can't hear properly, which I hate. And..." She trailed off, somehow I knew it was now that she wanted to tell me what was really bothering her.

She sighed and sat up. Her green eyes were a little weary as she turned so that she was facing me rather than sitting beside me. "You and mom don't have to worry about me, in training I mean and after school," her tone was very serious at that moment. It sounded more like it should be on a doctor then a thirteen year old child.

"And why do you say that Anna?" I asked her.

She grinned a little bit before answering, "you're worried that my hearing will be a disadvantage right? Because I won't hear people or more importantly Strigoi coming right?" She asked, I nodded, "well, what if I were to tell you I..." She trailed off again, and this time the look on her face was a pondering one, "I can _feel _people Daddy, like I know when they are coming. I can even tell their moods and sometimes their intentions," I opened my mouth to speak, to tell her not to play around on this point but she waved a hand at me, and I kept my mouth shut.

"I promise Daddy, I haven't lost it, and I'm not lying," she said. No, of course she wasn't because honestly? Anna doesn't lie. "It's weird..." She said before losing herself in thought.

I nodded, "it is, Anna how long as this been going on?" I asked her.

She shrugged, "for as long as I can remember. I've always known when someone was around, remember when I asked mom, just before she found out she was pregnant with Pat, when the new baby was coming?" I nodded; both Rose and I had chalked that up to the number of children we already had. We had figured Anna just believed it was normal to keep having children, now though...

"You knew, didn't you?" I asked her.

She nodded, "yeah, I did. Sort of," she again had a thoughtful look on her face, "the weird thing is I think I knew with the others as well, but...I don't know, I didn't know what it meant." She told me. She shook her head before speaking again, "but that was...well, normal compared to what has been happening lately," she finished.

"Something has changed," I stated.

She nodded, "big time," She scowled at this point.

"And that is what has been bothering you," I figured.

Again, she nodded, "yeah, lately it's been...I dunno, it is weird, not like any of this is really normal," she said with a small smile.

"What's changed Anna-Marie?" I prompted; I didn't want her to shut down on me now.

"I..." She started before stopping, taking a deep breath and starting again, "since the beginning of summer large crowds have really been bugging me. Like, when there are a lot of us around I get these headaches and such," she paused for a moment, "but it's more than that. I mean, I can be in the best mood, and if one person in the room is having a bad day, it's like I take on their bad mood." Again she stopped.

Honestly? This was really starting to weird me out just a bit. I couldn't imagine how Anna dealt with it.

She must have read the confusion on my face because she ploughed on with an explanation, "Earlier today for example, when everyone was over at the Voda's place." She began, "I got there in a good mood, and we were talking about the Conta ball. Well, Miranda got really upset about it because she didn't think her mother would let her go even though Kyle wants her to go with him. Within minutes, I was getting really upset over nothing, and then...well, you know the rest," she said with a frown.

Did I ever know what came of that. I sighed and nodded, "did Tori offer any insight about this to you earlier?" I asked her.

Anna nodded, "she said that the amount of Spirit magic I was exposed to may have affected how tuned into people I am, or something like that," she told me.

"Makes sense," I told her. After all, Moroi who specialized in Spirit often had good compulsion, saw auras, healed and walked dreams. All these things were related to dealing with people on a more intimate base then just their body, it was more like dealing with their mind. It made sense to me that any side effects Spirit had on a person would affect the way they dealt with others.

"Daddy?" Anna asked after a moment, I looked up and she continued, "It's late, and really I want to go to bed." She told me.

I smiled, "of course Baby Girl," I told her. We both stood up together and I was a little surprised when she moved quickly around the bed and hugged me once more.

"Thanks for understanding Daddy," she told me as I returned the hug.

I wasn't sure I really understood what she was going through or anything like that, but I wasn't going to tell her that, "that's what I'm here for Baby girl," I told her as I kissed the top of her head and held her close.

"I know," was her reply as she pulled away and headed towards her bathroom, while I headed for the door, "Daddy?" She asked again just as I was opening the door back to the hall way.

"Yes?" I asked her again.

"I guess this means I'm not going to Sacramento tomorrow am I? Mom will never let me out of the house..." She trailed off at that.

I just smiled at her, "I'll talk to her Baby Girl, don't worry about it." I told her.

"Thanks Daddy," was her only response as she turned and closed the door to her bathroom.

As for me, I stepped into the hall, and headed down towards my bedroom. Rose was sitting on the bed with a fussing Teresa on her lap. At just under two years old, Teresa was the baby of the family. I sat down on the opposite side of the bed, "you want me to take her?" I asked Rose with a smile.

"Please, I don't know what's wrong with her tonight..." Rose said with a frown.

"Don't want to sleep!" Teresa said with pout, "not tired Mama!"

I took my daughter easily into my arms, and set her on my lap, "and what do you want to do Bug?" I asked her. 'Bug' was a nickname that she got for simply being the smallest, not because I found her annoying, just to clarify.

"Story! Peas?" She asked me, her dark brown eyes almost pleading. So, she got her story and within half an hour was back in bed.

Rose was already in bed when I returned to the room. I striped down to my boxers (as I usually did) and crawled into bed beside her. Both of us were quiet for a moment before Rose spoke first.

"How's Anna-Marie?" She asked.

I sighed and rolled onto my side, studying my wife for a moment, picking my words carefully. After a minute I answered with a sigh, "we've got a lot of talking to do, you sure you want to talk now?" I asked her.

Rose nodded, "of course, I want to know...That wasn't Anna-Marie downstairs tonight Adrian, what's going on?" She asked me.

And so I retold her everything I had gained from my time listening to our daughter. It was, like I had promised a long evening as we talked about what had to be done, and really what could be done about it.

"She wants to train Rose," I told her at the end, "and I think we should let her." I finished, waiting for the reaction I was sure was coming. Anger, and fear were always the key elements in Rose's personality when this particular topic was brought up.

Instead though, she sighed and nodded, "I've been thinking about it, but I don't..." She trailed off as I placed a finger to her soft lips.

"Anna-Marie faces no more dangers, I believe, then any of our other children do Rose," I told her softly. She didn't look convinced so I removed my finger and kissed her forehead softly, "you don't honestly think I'd say that if I believed she would get hurt do you?" I asked her.

"No...But..." Rose began and I cut her off again.

"Rose," I said with a frown, "it's late. Why don't we sleep on it, and discuss this, in a more civilized manner then tonight, with Anna-Marie in the morning? I'm sure we can find some sort of compromise," I reasoned.

Rose shook her head, "fine, fine. Everyone else will be heading to Sacramento tomorrow anyways, we can talk to her then..."

"She wants to go with them," I told her suddenly.

"By god Adrian! Did you not hear her tonight? She needs to be punished for that, and staying home from the trip would be the best way..." Again I stopped her.

"Make her miserable? It wasn't her fault Rose," I pointed out, "she's not in complete control of her emotional state right now," I felt for Anna-Marie on that point. After all, how many times had the strain of Spirit wreaked havoc with my emotions and temper? It was fair to punish her for it, "besides, she needs something to wear to the Conta Dance."

The look on Rose's face passed from pissed, to amused in the span of about five seconds. At any other time it would have been funny as hell, but right now I was a little worried about what she was actually going to say. "Fine," she said with a look of defeat on her face, "why aren't I surprised? You always take her side Adrian, and you two always win," she told me, "I kind of hate you for that," she added in a whisper.

I just grinned and put my arms around her, pulling her close, "you don't, you love me," I told her as I pressed my lips gently, and yet firmly to hers stopping all conversation for the rest of the night.

**Woot, an update, and a sort of long chapter...I'm back on track (I hope) with this story, and I warn you now it won't long. Maybe, MAYBE 20 chapters...Ok, so maybe that is long...Sort of..Well, not when you consider Forty Weeks of Hell was 46 chapters...**

**Anyways, this chapter...I really like it. Nice, light and flurry, with a tiny bit of angst. Nothing serious though. **

** Hope you enjoyed, read and review! Hopefully the next chapter will be out tomorrow.**

-CeilidhMae.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

** Anna's Point of View.**

I honestly hadn't thought I would be able to sleep after the night's events, but I drifted off to sleep almost as soon as I closed my eyes. I wasn't planning on getting much sleep, I was still hoping to be allowed to go to Sacramento with the rest of the group. In which case we'd be leaving by nine o'clock AM! To my surprise I got up and had permission from my mother to go. The only thing that really shocked me more was that Miranda had decided to come with us.

"It's not like I can get anything, but it could be fun," She told me with a smile after I had (while wiping the sleep from my eyes), answered the door and let her in. Her thick strawberry blond curls were worn down today, and I felt a pang of guilt in my chest as I remembered the bite marks. I hadn't followed up on them with her. I could feel her emotions at that moment though, and she seemed happy (and possibly relieved) to be heading out for the day, well, night.

Top this all off with me having gained permission to have a full training schedule in September, and to say it was bound to be a good day was an understatement.

Not that the permission came free of course. It had been a compromise, one I came out on top in. Mom's demands were:

1) She'd sit in on a couple of my training sessions with Nahkiti, just to make sure I was ok with the training.

2) I was going to have to see a specialist about my mood swings, possibly take some medications to get them sorted out.

3)if at any point I felt that I wasn't going to be able to physically do the training due to my hearing, then I was to drop it.

All in all pretty reasonable sounding to me.

So, at nine o'clock at night (for us) there was a large group of us teenagers, very happily, heading towards Sacramento. There was the six of us (Aniya, Lexie, Miranda, Emilie, Kyle, and myself), and Nahkiti in one vehicle, with at least five other guardians following us with AJ, Vanessa. It was strange (but understandable) that our races could be so paranoid. After all, it was daylight, no chance of Strigoi attacking now.

By ten o'clock, the girls had separated from the guys, and headed off to look at dresses, shoes and jewellery.

"Anna, no!" Miranda begged as we started off at one of the dress shops in the mall. Miranda wasn't a dress girl at all. She didn't have the desire or the money to indulge in dressy clothing. Plus she was modest, and more than a little shy.

"Oh come on Miranda! You're going to the dance, end of story," I told her as I started looking through the dresses. Dresses that were made for you were so much easier to deal with, but mom and dad had wanted to teach us that just because we had money, didn't mean we had to spend it.

Of course, I had heard stories that my father hadn't always thought that way...

"And your going with Kyle Voda," Emilie said with a giggle as she appeared on Miranda's other side, "come on! Let us use you as a dress up doll just this once," Emilie finished with a small pouted.

"Guys..." Miranda sighed, but resigned.

"It doesn't cost anything to window shop Miranda," I pointed out with a grin. Oh we were so winning this one.

"Yeah but..." She trialed off, her baby blue eyes were uncharacteristically fierce for a moment, "you guys aren't going to let me 'window shop'" she said with a snort.

"Nope," Emilie said, popping the 'p'.

"And really I don't have any say in this?" She asked looking at me.

"Only on color and style," I told her with a grin.

"Think of it as thirteen birthdays and Christmas's rolled into one," Emilie suggested as she started seriously looking at dresses.

"I hate you two," Miranda laughed rolling her eyes.

"Nah, guaranteed you don't" I told her as I put my arm around her shoulder, "now come on, we have only limited time to make you gorgeous," I told her, putting on a fake French accent. This caused the three of us to fall into a fit of laughter, and gained us a reproachful look from both the store's employees and Nahkiti who was watching us.

We browsed the store for about ten minutes before Aniya made her way over. Emilie was holding a nicely cut, blue dress up in front of Miranda, to which Aniya shook her head, "blues not her color," she said simply.

I felt Miranda's energy as she tensed up. She still hadn't forgiven Aniya for what she had said yesterday. I interfered before either of them started at each other, ".Start!" I hissed at the two of them. I was in a good mood, I had no headache, and by god! I wanted to have a good day.

"I..." Aniya stopped and bit her lip before continuing, her pale green eyes met Miranda's blue ones, "I just wanted to say sorry, I shouldn't have spoke like I did yesterday." She told her, the words tumbling out of her mouth quickly.

Miranda shrugged, "you were kind of right," she pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I should have said it," Aniya insisted.

"That's true," Miranda said with a snort before waving to the dress Emilie was holding, "if not blue then what?" She asked her.

Aniya looked Miranda up and down once and then stopped and thought. This was her domain. I didn't shop, not unless it was a big outing like this one. I really didn't like it, but getting dressed up every so often (especially when your parents were here to say anything again what you bought) was a lot of fun.

"Green," Aniya said after a moment, "it'll really bring out the red in your hair," she said with a nod, "you don't want pastel though, your too pale for it, but nothing dark, that would just..." She trailed off trying to find the words, "it wouldn't look good," she said with a shrug.

"Slim or poufy?" Emilie asked as she put the blue dress back and started looking through a selection of green dresses.

"Slim," Aniya without hesitation a smile creeping across her face, "I heard Belinda Conta talking about how she'll have Kyle from you easily after the dance," Aniya told Miranda simply. I watched as Miranda's smile faded and just kept myself from beating my hand against my forehead. Aniya's next words surprised me though, "just you wait though, when we're done with you, he won't even see her."

We searched through half the store, and found a nice blue spaghetti strap dress for Emilie, and a similar one, except in Yellow for Aniya. By the time we were going through another rack, Vanessa had joined us. She though wasn't much help.

"That one Em!" Aniya said suddenly as she payed for her dress, "why didn't I see it before? Anna, the one beside it is so you!" She nearly squealed, earning her a look from her sister that clearly stated, I don't know you.

They were nice dresses. The green one was lower cut then I would wear, with two sets of thin straps. Two went over your shoulders, while two other ones went over your shoulders, and crossed behind you back, it also had a slightly darker green, semi see through shawl with it. The one beside it was dark purple, with a lot less skin showing, the straps tied behind your back easily. Simple and elegant, just my style.

Aniya grabbed the bag with her dress in it from the lady at the counter and ran back towards us, face flushed. Nahkiti was at the entrance of the store, watching in a way that she wasn't watching us. But Aniya's sudden cry had caught her attention. I saw her shake her head with a small smile.

"I don't know, it kind of shows a lot..." Miranda began.

Aniya snorted, "Yeah right," she rolled her eyes and grabbed both dresses shoving them into our hands, "go try them on!" She was acting like Christmas had just come early or something.

I just shrugged as Miranda gave me a panicked look as we headed towards the changing room. I felt the fear and nerves radiating off her as we took the same room.

"What's the matter Miranda?" I asked her as I pulled off my sneakers and then my shirt and jeans before stepping into the dress.

"I..It's just really revealing, that's all," Miranda said as she kicked off her sneakers, "Here, I got it," she said as she took the straps from my hands and tied them gently behind my neck.

"Thanks," I said as I did a little spin and looked at my reflection. It showed more than I thought it would, and was a little shorter, but mom and dad would approve. "Come on Miranda, it's not that bad," I said with a smile.

She hesitated for a moment before nodding and removing first her worn jeans, and then her t-shirt. I gasped when I saw a number of bruises on her upper arms, and a few on her legs. I tried not to stare, but she caught me and blushed.

"Anna..." She began.

I shook my head and helped her into her dress. As I brushed away some of her hair from her neck, I found what I had feared I would. Bite marks, at least two not three inches from each other and fresh. I tried my best to arrange the straps away from them (no doubt they were tender). Once that was done, I rearranged her hair and the shawl on her shoulders to hide the majority of the bruising.

"Thanks," she muttered, her eyes and mood down casted, "it'll be harder at the ball though," she said with a sigh.

I was about to tell her we could have Aunt Lissa or Dad heal them, but I had a feeling she didn't want them seeing these marks. Not that I could really blame her.

Instead, I shrugged and smiled, "make up is an amazing thing Miranda," I told her before giving her a hug.

She returned it, and when she pulled away I was sure I saw tears in her eyes, "thanks Anna."

"No problem, now come on, Aniya will want to see them," I told her with a roll of my eyes.

Miranda just nodded as I grabbed her hand and half dragged her out of the changing room. Aniya had a smug look on her face when we came out, while Emilie just stared.

"Wow..." She said before trailing off, her blue eyes wide.

"Like what you see Em?" I asked as I spun around, letting them see the back of the dress too.

Emilie just nodded. After about twenty minutes Miranda and I were back in our normal clothes, and the dresses were payed for. We looked at shoes next, which was relatively painless, and then jewellery, which again was relatively painless.

We met back up with the guys at around four o'clock to head home. The lot of us were exhausted and I personally was ready to find my bed.

"You staying at my place tonight Miranda?" I asked leaning over my seat to talk to my friend.

Miranda nodded, "yeah sure, I'll need to put my stuff in your closet too," she pointed out with a scowl. There was no way this would be safe at her house.

"No problem," I said with a shrug.

"What did you guys get anyways?" Lexie asked as he turned around to try and look into the bags behind his seat.

"Hey!" I said as I slapped his knee with a laugh, "not till the dance," I told him.

"Why not?" Kyle asked as he turned around too, trying to look.

Kyle was sitting in the middle, with Miranda to his left. I smirked as her elbow came up, and jabbed him in the ribs.

"Ouch!" Kyle jumped at the poke.

"Wait till the dance then," Miranda told him with a smile and a laugh.

I just smiled, those two were practically made for each other.

**So, what do you think? I had to bring the whole Miranda bit back into the story for...Well, later. Can't ruin the story for you. I hope everyone had a great New Years! Remember, Reviews are love and really do make me write faster. **

** Enjoy.**

** -CeilidhMae.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

** Anna's Point of view. **

The Conta party was in full swing by eight o'clock, which was probably a good thing, since most of the younger children would be home within the next two hours or so. Of course, my group and I were among the ones that would be allowed to stay...Well, pretty much as long as the party lasted. Or, in my case, my head stayed headache free. Sadly, after only being in the large house (with fifty plus people) two hours it seemed like I wouldn't have that luxury.

Originally the plan had been that a large group of us were going to go together, but soon after arrival that idea had gone out the window. Miranda and Kyle had moved themselves off to one side with Emilie following them, and Lexie, Aniya and I were together. It was weird to me, only having the Dragomir's around, especially since for the better half of the evening, Miranda had been stuck to my side.

I had (out of habit) kept an eye out for Miranda most of the night. She wasn't use to these types of things, and well, she was a bit of a target. Especially from Belinda Conta, who it was well known, had a thing for Kyle. More then once this evening I had seen her brown eyes wonder over to where my two friends were dancing, malice and hatred written all over her face.

And it was all because Miranda had Kyle, and she didn't. With her dark hair and eyes, ivory skin and curvy built then most Moroi; Belinda could have any of the guys she wanted in this room. With the notable exception of the one she actually wanted. The fact that a bloodwhore's daughter, who needed her friends to help her with almost everything, could get Kyle kind of pissed her off.

The loud music beat a steady rhythm around the large room we occupied, one that (ironically) was in perfect time with the pounding in my head. Beside me, Lexie gave me a concerned look, "you ok?" he mouthed to me.

I shook my head and tapped my temple. He nodded, understanding that the combination of people and music was giving me a headache. I stood on my tip toes to get closer to one ear to reply to him, "I'm going outside, I'll be right back," I told him.

"You want me to come?" He asked, and again I shook my head and motioned for him to join his sister in chatting with a few other locals.

As I made my way to the door, I was joined by Miranda who was all smiles as she looped her arm around mine and stepped outside with me.

"Oh Anna! Thank you so much for helping me with this!" She gushed as soon as the door swung shut behind us. The door blocked the music out, and the feeling of all those people. My headache eased a little bit, but I still couldn't fully shake it.

"Oh yes Anna, thank you so much," I hadn't noticed Belinda was out in the yard with us, and judging by the shock on Miranda's face, she hadn't either. Belinda was our age, and she was beautiful, or rather she could be if she didn't have a permanent scowl on her face, "thank you so much Anna for bringing her type to this function, and thank you so much for trying to ruin a great family by encouraging her to be with Kyle," she said the sneer growing.

I snorted, "He's better off with her then you," I told her without even turning around to look at her. I felt Miranda's joy drain out of her, as she started taking Belinda's comments to heart.

"You and Emilie are just encouraging her to get involved in a life she'll never fit into," Belinda pointed out.

Inwardly I cringed because I knew she was right. No matter how much Emilie and I cared for Miranda as a friend, we were going to leave town eventually. She was right about Miranda and Kyle as well, nothing would, or rather nothing could, come of it. Royals didn't marry or commit to long term relationships with Dhampir, with the notable exception of my parents. Not that I would ever tell Miranda this...

"Shut your mouth Belinda," I told her as I rubbed circles on my temples. Beside me, I felt Miranda grow more and more upset.

"No, and you know why Ivashkov? Because she needs to know, she doesn't belong in our social circle, and," she paused for dramatic effects as she flicked an invisible piece of dirty from her dress, "I'm not sure you or Emilie do either, what Kyle and Lexie see in either of you, is beyond me," she finished as she regarded her perfectly done nails.

I snorted, "Like you know what you're talking about," I said rolling my eyes.

Belinda snorted, "Obviously," she rolled her eyes, "you see as much as you hear."

"Shut up would you!" I practically yelled at her as I turned to face her. The smirk was gone from her face, and she took a step back.

She glared at me for a second before snorting, "Whatever, you guys all go good together actually. You're going to be a deaf guardian, and Miranda here is nothing but a bloodwhore in training..." I didn't hear the end of her rant, as Miranda turned and took off.

To be honest, it took everything I had to go after Miranda at that point and not flatten Belinda. "Miranda!" I called out as I turned down the garden path. At the end of it the path the gate was wide open, making it quiet clear where Miranda had gone, "Miranda!" I called again.

"If she's smart she left, went back home or something," Belinda was following me down the path, holding up the skirt of her dress.

I rolled my eyes and didn't even bother looking back at her. As we both came out of the garden, the wind caught the gate and slammed it shut, ripping it from Belinda's grasp and casing her to jump. A second later, there was a terrified scream from in front of us.

"Miranda?" I yelled again. A cold wind blew across the path, causing me to shiver in the light material of my dress.

"Anna..." Belinda said behind me, her voice trembling, "we should go back..."

Oh didn't I know it. I knew something was wrong, I could feel it in my bones. My headache was at once gone, and I was alert. Something...Someone (for I could now feel a distinct person) was out there, and they didn't have good intentions...

"No ones keeping you here," I told her as I took another step down the path.

Belinda was still for a moment, and then followed me, "the latch was tripped, and I can't reach it," she said simply as we both moved down the path. I resisted the urge to yell out once again for Miranda. Something was just off...Behind me Belinda whimpered softly, "We should go back..." She said with a shiver, "get one of the guardians...This isn't right..."

"Then go," I told her severely before stopping suddenly. Up ahead something was moving, something that couldn't be. I froze, realizing that by standing here, we were in major danger. I turned and grabbed Belinda by the arm. She gasped out, and began but I put my hand over her mouth and pulled her off the path, behind a large rose bush.

Hopefully, the smell of roses would over power of our scent. After all, I was good, but there was no way either of us would survive if those two Strigoi up a head found us...

**I've actually been sitting on this Chapter for awhile :/ I'm extremely sorry that I haven't updated! Life has gotten in the way, and I've had more muse for my other stories. I'm kind of hoping to have this story completed soon though. I was actually going to write two other stories following Anna and friends, including one that is very much an Anna/Lexie story, but I dunno...I may possibly still do them, I just have other projects I'll be focusing on before that.**

Read and Review.

~CeilidhMae.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

** Anna's Point of view.**

I sat there frozen, my hand clamped tight around Belinda's mouth just staring. I couldn't feel the Strigoi like I could other people, they muted everything out. I couldn't feel anything with them around. Not even Belinda who was sitting right next to me.

Belinda whimpered, scared to death. Of course I was too, but years of basic theory classes at the academy had taught me to stay quiet. I pressed another finger to my lips and she went quiet. I removed my hand from her mouth, and although she was breathing heavily, she was relatively quiet.

I returned my eyes to the Strigoi who had moved away from their victim and now seemed to be arguing about what to do next. I couldn't tell who the victim had been, or even who these Strigoi had been, but a feeling in my stomach told me that Miranda had been the victim. I felt the tears prickle behind my eyes at this, but willed them back. I couldn't break down now.

"We have to get out of here," Belinda's lips were so close to my ears I felt them brush against the skin. Her voice was extremely low, but I tensed, watching the Strigoi to see if they heard anything. One of them didn't even look up, but the other's head shot up and he sniffed at the air, not unlike a hound dog. I glared over at Belinda and pressed my finger to my lips once more. Man she needed to shut up.

And if she had to speak, I would have preferred her not stating the obvious.

I took stock of the situation quiet quickly, and decided our best bet was to stay put at this point. After all, we were out of sight, they couldn't smell us and if we stayed quiet, maybe they would leave. Honestly hiding wasn't something I normally did, I preferred to hit problems head on, but we won't survive if we tried to move and they found us. End of story. I may train hard and be almost at the top of my class, but I wasn't near ready to take on Strigoi. Hell, I couldn't take on the older Novices.

No, in this case staying put was best. I motioned for Belinda to stay right where she was, hoping she understood. Judging by the look of utter disbelief on her face, she did. She shook her head and pointed behind her. She wanted to make for the road, and then to the house. The house had Guardians, which meant safety for both of us. I shook my head though and pointed at the Strigoi before pulling one finger across my neck. She understood that too, they would get us and we would die.

I didn't know about her, but that wasn't really on my list of things to do tonight.

Beside me, Belinda sat with her back pressed as flat against the fence behind us as possible. In front the Strigoi were starting to move. One wanted to come this way, the other (it seemed) wanted to continue down the path. I couldn't help but hope they didn't come our way. I watched as they began to argue, the larger of the two shoving the other one. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but I did here the growls and snarls. I kept my eyes on them, but I could here Belinda trying to claw her way back.

I hadn't realized I was holding my breath until I released it as the Strigoi eventually started back up the path away from us. As soon as they were out of sight, Belinda tried running, but I managed to grab her before she even made it to her feet and pulled her back down. I shook my head and pointed at the ground before putting up one hand. _Stay here,_ I mouthed to her. The Strigoi could just be around the corner for all we knew, waiting to see if anyone was around. Actually, there was no doubt in my mind that's where they were. After all, behind us was a house full of Moroi. Unless these guys had some sense, since there were a number of Guardians as well.

It wasn't two minutes after the disappeared that one the Strigoi moved once again back into our line of sight. It was also the same time that Belinda's phone went off. This time, the Strigoi did hear us, his head snapped up, and I was sure he's red rimmed eyes locked onto mine.

"Shut it up, shut it up," I snarled in a low whisper at Belinda.

"I'm trying!" She told me as she flicked it open and turned off the phone. The worst part was the phone made even more noise as she turned it off. I had to curse my luck then, we were so close, so close to getting away from this. Now though, it seemed that this was where we would see the end and meet our maker. Finally the noise stopped, but not before both Strigoi were staring towards the bush, trying to decide weather they wanted to risk looking, or staying back.

"Should we run now?" Belinda asked as she grabbed at my upper arm.

I shook my head. No, they hadn't made a decision, but they would if we ran for it. Belinda was starting to panic now, and when the smaller of the two started towards us, she started to shake and whimper once again. He was ten feet away from us when she bolted. It took him only seconds to catch her, she screamed and the second one came running. I could have saved myself, but I couldn't. After all, they came first, right? Mind you, if I moved the chances were good that we'd both be killed.

I hesitated though, and the first rule you were suppose to learn both in theory and practise, was don't hesitate. I'm not sure that our instructors had thought of this situation though. I was clean terrified at the idea of even moving, and having these monsters see me, let alone attacking them.

Belinda screamed again, and I moved as quickly as possible in my dress. I was saved the need to distract the Strigoi as the second one grabbed him from behind and pulled him back. Belinda managed to crawl away. High heels weren't generally my thing, and to be honest the slowed me down a lot, but I managed to get to her and half pull, half drag her away. Being more accustomed to heels then myself, Belinda managed to get herself up and in front of me easily.

"Run," I told her as she slowed down looking over her shoulder. Instead though, she stopped so I gave her a shove, "go!" I told her.

We weren't far from the house. In reality it was only 30 or 40 feet to our left. The problem was the fence that surrounded the property. In order to reach the house we would have to go around it, out to the road and back down the driveway. The total trip would be about fifteen minutes. As I ran after Belinda I became aware that the snarling from the fighting Strigoi had stopped, but there wasn't any footsteps following us. Or at least none that I could hear.

The path went rocky at one point, and while I could run, the heels slowed me down. On top of that, we were going down hill and I tripped over my own feet. I fell to my knees and that's went I felt it. A pair of strong hands clutched at my shoulder pulling me back.

"Anna!" Belinda yelled as she saw me go down, and the Strigoi grab me.

"Just run!" I screamed as I tried to get my feet out from under me. The strigoi had me tight though, and I couldn't get up. His nails cut into the bare flesh of my shoulders as I continued to struggle. All the time wondering where the other one was.

Another scream from Belinda up a head got my attention, and answered my question. Another arm came around my neck as the strigoi pulled my head to one side with a large amount of force. I was surprised (pleasantly) that he didn't snap my neck. It didn't stop me from trying to get away though, and as I struggled, the pressure increased. Time seemed to drag, and the seconds between my fall and the sharp pain of his fangs sinking into my flesh seemed like hours.

The endorphins rushed through my body. Pure bliss, no pain, nothing. Something in the back of my mind told me to keep fighting, but the endorphins dulled it all down. My body went limp, and I found that I didn't care, anything could have happened and I would have been ok with it.

As I grew weaker, I was suddenly aware of other yells joining in with Belinda's. This pulled me back to reality and I tried fighting back again. I managed to dislodge him from my neck, but his fangs dragged across the flesh, pulling the wound wide open. I could feel the blood pour from the wound; the thick warm liquid drenched my dress and flowed down my shoulders, back and chest. On top of that, the Strigoi was starting to close his arm tighter and tighter around my shoulder and chest, cutting off my breathing.

I felt my consciousness slipping as I caught sight of a flash of silver. The Strigoi screamed, and I could almost picture the silver stake being slipped in under the Strigoi's ribs and into his heart. His arm loosened around me, and I felt myself fall forward. Two arms caught hold of me though, familiar and yet strange all at once.

"Easy Anna, your alright," Dimitri's voice cut through the fog in my mind. My eyes had closed at one point and I struggled to open them, struggled to figure out what was even going on. A second later I was off the ground and moving. But the direction and to where to I couldn't figure out.

Voices and flashing lights added to my confusion. Dimitri must be taking me towards the road that was the only conclusion my muddled mind could come to.

"Oh my god, Anna!" My mother's voice was clearer then any as Dimitri's long strides slowed down just as we reached the source of at least one of the flashing lights.

"M...mom..." I tried speaking, but my throat was dry, and my voice seemed to belong to someone else.

I felt a soft pressure on one of my hands, warm but distant as I was set down and loaded into the back of the ambulance. Everything else was a blur, except for my mother's worried voice speaking over and over again, "it's ok baby, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere's. It's ok."

**And? What do you think?**

**I finally got a USB keyboard for my computer, so writing isn't painful anymore! Yay. So that means more updates. Double yay. **

**Anyways, two more chapters and this story will be done. Hopefully (depending on how my schedule goes) that means the end of the week? Possibly sooner because the next chapters won't be very long. **

**Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are love. **

**~Ceilidh.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Rose's Point of View.**

When Nahkiti had called to tell me they had found Miranda's body with teeth marks in her neck, drained dry, I had panicked. When she had asked for help to find them, I had agreed and even offered to call Dimitri and get him to come out as well. After I had called him, I got another call from Nahkiti.

According to Lexie and Emilie, Anna had gone outside with Miranda, and Belinda had followed them. No one had seen them since. And because the Conta house was on lock down, it only stood to reason that Anna and Belinda were still outside.

It was then that I grabbed my stake and ran out the door. I didn't even stop to tell Adrian what was going on. I just told him to keep everyone in the house. Eddie caught up to me not five minutes later after I left the house. He didn't say anything as we made our way as quickly as possible to the Conta house. I just presumed that Nahkiti had called him.

We didn't get there in time though. Things moved quickly when Strigoi were involved; things moved twice as fast when two children were involved with the Strigoi. When we got to the scene, there were guardians searching the grounds. It was nosey, but effective. We met up with Nahkiti who had taken over the search. She was standing to the side, a large map of the property spread out over the back of one of the cars in the drive.

"Rose, Eddie," She acknowledged without looking up. She was marking off search grids; a radio was sitting at her side. She didn't look up as she addressed us, "Eddie, Dimitri's on the path that follows back along the east fence line, go join him and Kitty there," Eddie just nodded and took off at a run around the back of the house. For the first time Nahkiti looked up at me, compassion in her brown eyes, "Rose, out of all the possible novices that could be stuck out here, Anna has the best chance of survival," she told me.

I nodded before speaking, my voice cracking a little, "where do you need me?" I asked her.

She had gone back to her map, her pen still as her eyes traveled over the grids. She took a deep breath before speaking, "here," she replied before tapping the grid that traveled down the east side of the property. "We believe that they're probably in this area. We found the gate open around back, but that's still five acres of land, most of it wooded to search," she pointed out.

I sighed before speaking in a low tone, "I should be helping," I pointed out, trying to keep myself calm.

"No, you should be here Rose; you're too emotionally involved, you know you need to be..." I cut her off before she could finish.

"God damnit Nahkiti, she's my daughter, how can I just stay here?" I asked her as I tried to turn away and move towards the path that would take me to the area that I would most likely find my daughter.

Nahkiti had my arm before I had gone two steps. The compassion was gone from her eyes when I looked back at her, she was in full guardian mode now, "stop it Rose, and stay right here," she told me seriously. Her voice softened as she let go of my arm again, "Rose, look Dimitri, Eddie, Kitty and your mother are on this one. Sit it out before your run away emotions make it worse, you know I'm right," she finished.

And I did. I didn't like it, sitting out and not doing anything while my child was in trouble, but I knew she was right. I was emotionally involved in this. That led to errors and mistakes. Mistakes that could cost me my life, Anna's life and anyone else involved. No, Nahkiti was right and I had to sit it out.

It sure as hell wasn't easy though.

So for close to twenty minutes, I helped Nahkiti delegate. Every time another group would come back I would listen closely to their reports. Every time I saw someone come back, I was looking for the bodies that would come with them. I feared the worst, Anna was talented, but it was raw talent. No 13 year old child could go up against a Strigoi and survive, none. A small part of my mind held onto Nahkiti's earlier words though, if anyone would survive, it would be Anna.

Finally, after twenty minutes of waiting, there was a crackle on the radio, and then my mother's voice came through, "we've got one of them Guardian Ivashkov, Guardian Castile has Miss Conta coming out now, one Strigoi has been neutralized," she finished crisply.

"Got it, ambulance standing by," Nahkiti replied. She waited a moment before asking, "Janine, what about Anna?" She asked looking directly at me.

My mother didn't answer right away, and when she did her voice wasn't near as steady as it had been, "Guardian Belikov and Guardian Ivashkov are still looking." My heart sank at her words, had the girls spilt up? Had the other strigoi, fearing a conflict or wanting her to himself moved her further into the woods? Time was ticking, and the longer he had Anna, the worse her chances were.

I watched as Eddie carried Belinda Conta's limp body out of the woods. The paramedics met him half way to the Ambulance and I could see the tears in her dress, and the open bleeding wounds on her face, neck, arms and legs. She was in rough shape, and that didn't comfort me at all. I clutched my stake in my left hand, as I wondered the gathering crowd, not even bothering to try crowd control at this point. I couldn't find it in myself to care what happened to the people in this ever growing crowd, they didn't matter. Only my little girl, my miracle child did.

It had been tough from her from the day of her conception. She had been a hard pregnancy, and then born premature and weak. As a child she had been accident prone, her hearing was bad, ear infections tortured her and lately we hadn't been getting along. If something happened now... I felt tears prickling at the back of my eyes. I couldn't think like that, it would be ok, she would be ok. It was going to be fine.

"Rose, they got her," it was Eddie who came running up to me with the news. His shirt still sported what had to be Belinda's blood, and his stake (which was tucked into his belt) was stained red from the Strigoi.

"Is she...?" I choked on the words, unable to speak the words. I was unable to ask if my child was alive, or if she had been killed.

Eddie wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. It was then that the tears I had been holding back spilled from my eyes in a torrent. He patted my back gently before speaking in a soft voice, "she's alive Rose, she's in rough shape, but she's alive. Belikov is bring her out now," he told me.

I pulled back and wiped the tears from my eyes, "ok, thanks Eddie," I said as I turned and moved towards the head of the path. I strained my eyes to catch even a glimpse of Dimitri coming down the path. The first one to come out was my mother. When she saw me she caught my hand and pulled me to the side.

"Easy Rose-Marie," She told me softly, "it's hard, but you've got to stay calm, she's in bad shape," she told me. I just nodded, I couldn't bring myself to say anything, "breathe Rose-Marie," Mom told me softly.

"I 'am, I 'am," I said as I craned my neck to see past, "Oh my god, Anna!" I sobbed as I caught sight of Dimitri coming out from under the trees. The streetlights casted a light over the limp, bloody body in his arms. I was beside him in an instant, when they got to the ambulance I refused to leave her side. They loaded her up quickly, and I had just enough time to yell to Dimitri before they slammed the doors shut, "Call Adrian for me." I thought I saw him nod.

It was a short ride to the hospital, and I couldn't do anything. I just sat their, holding onto Anna's hand, whispering over and over "its ok baby, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. It's ok." I tried not to sob, or get in the way. I watched helplessly as they inserted fluid Ivs, bloodlines and started packing the wound on her neck. She was bleeding out very quickly, it seemed impossible that she would survive it.

I stayed with her as long as possible, but once we were at the hospital, they took her right up to surgery. I wanted to go, felt like I had to, but I couldn't. Instead a nurse led me to the waiting room where I found Adrian, Lissa and an assortment of Guardian's that I didn't take the time to register. I walked into Adrian's opened arms which wrapped around me, holding me close and tight.

It was then that everything from earlier this evening spilled over ever barrier that I had tried to keep up. I cried, completely unashamed into his chest. The fear, pain and frustration left my body in torrents along with the tears. All the time he just held on to me, rubbing small circles in my back and whispering softly words of encouragement. It would be ok, she would be ok. They had healers here, and if it was too much, they had two spirit users here that would fix it.

Eventually, all the strength left my body and I was forced to sit down. I was seated between Adrian and Lissa, neither taking their hands off me. We sat there for half and hour before the doctor came in. Adrian listened attentively, but I only caught snippets. She had lost a lot of blood and was weak and unconscious, but pending no infections, she would be ok in time. The wounds had been bloody, but not as deep as they had feared, it was going to be a matter of keeping her calm and quiet and letting her body heal. She was just coming out of surgery he explained, but as her parents Adrian and I would be able to go see her up in the ICU once they had her settled in.

The doctor left, and as I looked up, I noticed the waiting room had started to fill up. Mom had arrived and was standing by the door; Dimitri was there too, along with Nahkiti and Kitty. As I sat up I just nodded and glanced at each of them in turn.

"Thank you," I managed to say, my voice still a little unstable.

The doctor came back in then to take Adrian and I up to see Anna. I nodded and stood, still clinging to Adrian for support. As we entered her room, I felt my stomach clench, eleven years ago we had visited her in the NICU, which hadn't been much different. At that point her future had been uncertain. I felt the tears start to well up inside me once more as I sat down beside the bed and took Anna's hand once more.

Monitors were beeping softly, tracking everything from her pulse to breathing rate to blood pressure. Blood hung in a bag next to a fluid and medicine drip. Adrian sat on the other side of the bed, his hand gently moving Anna's brown hair back behind one ear. It was quiet except for the beeping of the machines. Neither one of us said a word. There was nothing to say really. We had nearly lost our daughter, but here she was alive and on the mend.

A slight squeeze on my hand alert me to Anna waking up, "Mama?" She asked softly as she turned her head towards me and opened her eyes.

I nodded as I spoke, "I'm here Anna, we both are," I told her gently.

"I know," she said as she looked over at her father for a moment before turning back to me, "Mama, why are you crying? I'm alright," she told me as she gave my hand another small squeeze, "I'm alright," she repeated before her eyes closed again and she drifted back to sleep.

**Well, so much for a short chapter...I'm going to try and post the last one tomorrow! Woot, that will be another writing project done, then I think it may be my Georgina Kincaid next along with a bit of the big bang theory. **

**Heads up, keep checking in if you've enjoyed this universe I've created with Anna and the second generation group because I'm not done with her yet. Well, I am for now, but I'm hoping to have a couple more stories if there is a demand for them. **

**Again, read and review. **

**~Ceilidh.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14.**

** Anna's Point of View.**

With a lot of rest, and regular small healings from both my father and Lissa, I was soon out of the hospital. It was the day that we went back to school that I got home. I was still a little sore, my arm was in a sling, come to find out the Strigoi had broken a lot of bones. A couple ribs, the arm, the shoulder, the most serious of which had been fixed using spirit magic. The arm had been left though, the logic being it wasn't life threatening, and it would heal in time. I had been lucky. The only visible marks that had been left on my body were two long thin scars running from my mid neck down over my shoulder. They had tried getting rid of it with magic, but it looked like I was stuck with it.

The night I got home found me in my bedroom tossing clothing and books into my suitcase, packing for the plane trip back to Montana the next morning. Right back to the Academy, where I would start formal defensive training classes, once my arm healed completely that was.

I felt them before I heard the soft knock on the door, and then the creaking as Emilie pushed my bedroom door open. Emilie was the first one in, followed by Aniya, Lexie, Kyle and (to my surprise) Belinda. I was trying to zip up my suitcase one handed when Lexie intervened. Normally I would have put up a protest, but today I just didn't have the energy. Instead I just sat down beside it.

No one said anything, which made things a little awkward. I had seen them off and on since the attack when they came to visit me, with the exception of Belinda. But we had never said anything about the attack; I preferred to believe that it would all go away if I didn't talk about it. They just respected that. So it didn't really surprise me when no one said anything for the first few minutes. What did surprise me was when Belinda threw her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

"Ouch, careful," I winced as she crushed her body into my sore arm.

"I'm sorry Anna, for...Well everything," she said as she pulled away, tears forming in her brown eyes, "it's all my fault," she practically whispered.

I just stared at her for a moment and shook my head, "no, it's not all your fault Belinda..." I started before she interrupted me.

"Yes it was Anna, don't even try to deny it," she snapped. She shook her head as she started pacing up and down the room, "if I hadn't said anything to Miranda, she won't have gone outside, and you wouldn't have gone after her. On top of that had I actually listened and stayed put, there would have been a good chance that the..." She choked on the word, "there's a good chance that..." she stopped again, "that they wouldn't have found us and..." She trailed off as she sat down against the far wall and leaned her head back, "I screwed up, and you don't know how sorry I am," she finished.

I just watched her for a moment, ignoring the eyes of my friends that wandered between us. They hadn't found Miranda's body, no sign of her still existed really, but there had been a search, which turned up nothing. The body we had seen had been identified as a human, dragged into the wards. A memorial service had been held while I was still in the hospital, but really nothing was known.

Except that over twenty guardians had searched the town top to bottom for her, and had only found the necklace she had worn to the dance. My eyes were suddenly drawn to that necklace, which I had requested once the investigation was over. It hung beside my dresser, the only thing I had left of one of my best friends.

"It's ok," I said with a sigh, "there was no way to know how this would have ended," I added quickly. I was met with silence, and that silence hung in the air, thick and uncomfortable for the next ten minutes.

It was Aniya that broke the silence with a thin whisper, "supper should be done now."

I nodded; I could smell the meat on the Barbeque, or traditional end of holiday meal. I also felt AJ and Isaac coming down the hall, "five bucks says that's what Aj and Isaac are coming to tell us," I said as footsteps became audible down the hall.

Unsurprisingly, it was Aj and Isaac, and they were telling us that supper was ready. A small smile crossed my features as Emilie spoke for the first time, "You have got to stop doing that!" She hissed. All of us laughed at that, we really couldn't help it. It seemed so natural, so right.

I stayed back as everyone else left, and wasn't at all surprised when Lexie lingered with me. For the last thirteen years we had been best friends, our mothers before that had been best friends. We had been raised together from infancy, and I felt like now I was seeing for him for the first time. He was much taller then I was, with black messy that he wore long. His pale sea green eyes looked at me with nothing but concern. I didn't think as I took a step closer and put my one good arm around him. He responded by pulling me gently closer and just holding me.

He didn't say anything for a moment, he just held me. His voice was almost a whisper when he did speak, "are you ok Anna?" he asked.

I nodded, "I think so, or rather I will be," I told him, unable to meet those gorgeous pale eyes.

"Don't lie to me Anna; lie to who ever else you want to, but not to me. I know you too well," he pointed out, his face serious. No hint of his usual, playful smile, nothing. "You're not ok, no matter what you've been trying to tell everyone else, so don't just...Tell me what's wrong Anna, I want to help," he begged me.

I took a step back. Something about his words scared me, worried me. Not in the way that I was actually afraid of him, more like the emotions. The truth behind them that everyone else had seen and hinted at. It wasn't friendship that Lexie saw with me anymore, it was more.

"No, you don't Lexie," I told him suddenly just as serious as he was, "I don't want to talk about it, ok?" I asked him before turning away.

"Why are you running away Anna?" He asked me suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I countered, slightly confused as I turned back to look at him.

He was looking at his feet and not at me when he said it, "I care about you Anna, I have never been scared in my life as that night," He explained his voice cracking a bit, "I..." He stopped and looked at me, "I don't know how long I can continue to be just your friend Anna, I..."

"Don't say it Lex," I told him as I pushed a piece of my hair back behind my ear, "don't ruin our friendship by saying it." It slipped out before I could stop it, my rejection to what he had been holding in all summer, and possibly longer. We were like family, we weren't just friends, and we never had been. We were more like brother and sister, and unrelated but extended family.

His green eyes went hard as he just looked at me. I knew I had hurt him, and I hadn't wanted too, but how could I let him continue to pine after a relationship that he wanted, and would never happen? I hadn't wanted to tell him in quiet those words, but at least it was on the table.

Right?

"Fine, I'll...I'll see you downstairs," he told me as he walked past me without saying another word and walked out of the door. I just stood there for a moment, looking across the room at my reflection in the mirror over the dresser. I looked horrible to be honest. I hadn't showered since I came home that morning; unshed tears were built up behind the dark green eyes that stared back at me. A thin frown had replaced the usual smile.

I had lost Miranda first, and now I had lost Lexie. Nothing could take us back to what we had been before all this, I was sure of it. Turning around I closed my door, before turning to my bed and pushing the suitcase off the bed, I let myself collapse on to the bed face first. Pain shot through my arm as I landed on it, but I just let it add to the overwhelming mental anguish and pain that already filled my body.

I don't know how long I lay there, crying into my pillow before I heard my door open once more. All I knew was after it opened and shut, there was a weight on the side of my bed. I knew who it was, just as I knew it would be my father that came looking for me. He sat there, rubbing my back for a few moments until I summoned the strength to sit up. I soon found myself sitting in his lap, much like I had done as a child, and the tears returning. He held me close, never saying a word, just being there until my sobs and tears finally subsided.

"It'll be ok Baby girl," he told me finally, "I know it doesn't seem like it know, but it will be, you'll see." I just nodded, leaning my head against his chest. It was comfortable, it was safe to be with him, he wouldn't let anything happen; he could make it all better.

"I love you daddy," I said softly after a moment.

His arms tightened around me gently as he kissed the top of my head, "and I love you baby girl," he replied. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again, "there is still food left if you're hungry."

I just nodded but stayed where I was, "and probably people," I sad with a sigh.

"You can't hide from them forever Anna-Marie," he told me gently.

"I can try," I replied.

I knew he was smiling at this, fighting back a laugh, "you shouldn't though. There are a lot of people out there that care for you, their worried about you Anna," he pointed out.

His words made sense, I knew they did but I didn't want to believe him. I didn't want to think of the amount of people who did care, and I cared about. The people I could loose as easily as I did Miranda last week, and possibly Lexie today.

"Can I just have a minute to clean up?" I asked after a silent moment as I disentangled myself from his lap and stood up.

He smiled, "of course, come down when your ready Baby girl," he told me before giving me one last hug and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

I grabbed a change of clothes and changed quickly. As I grabbed my brush, I noticed my copy of Interview with the Vampire sitting on my dresser, upside down to the last spot I had been reading. I picked it up, reading over the page I had left at.

""Evil is a point of view. We are immortal. And what we have before us are the rich feasts that conscience cannot appreciate and mortal men cannot know without regret. God kills, and so shall we; indiscriminately He takes the richest and the poorest, and so shall we; for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like Him as ourselves, dark angels not confined to the limits of hell but wandering His earth and all its kingdoms." I read allowed to myself. I re-read the segment two or three more times before I set the book back down and just pulled my messy hair into a ponytail and left it.

I hurried downstairs and out the door, scanning the backyard for Nahkiti as I did. I spotted her speaking with my grandmother Hathaway and Kitty and hurried over. I interrupted as politely as I could, "excuse me, Guardian Ivashkov, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked addressing Nahkiti.

"Of course Anna," she replied before excusing herself to the other two guardians and walking a short distance with me, "Yes Anna?" She asked me, I could feel her curiosity and confusion.

"I think I can answer your question now," I told her simply.

Confusion overshadowed curiosity now, "which one?" She asked.

"Why do we kill Strigoi," I told her. It seemed like forever ago since she had asked Emilie and me that question. With everything that had happened, I wasn't sure if she still expected an answer or not.

"Look Anna, I never expected you to figure out the answer after all that happened," she told me gently.

"I kind of figured as much," I told her honestly, "but I think it's because of what happened that I came to this realization," I admitted.

She nodded, "ok then, well let's here it," she told me.

"We kill them because they will kill without moral constraint and indiscriminately. They don't care if you're rich or poor and they kill without regret. They are evil, they are immortal and unnatural, not that the last bit should really be a reason. After all Dhampirs can be considered unnatural as well right? But either way, young or old, it doesn't matter to them. And it breaks up the balance, especially now with the Moroi numbers so low," I took a breath from my ramblings and stole a look around my backyard once more. My friends were gathered in one area, laughing and going on, while the adults were chatting in another and the younger kids ran about in unchecked, young gaiety. "But more importantly, I will do it to protect those closest to me. I've seen now what they can do Kiti, I can't, I won't lose anyone close to me again to them," I told her meeting her dark brown eyes for the first time that evening.

She nodded and smiled, "Anna, whoever gets you as a Guardian is going to be lucky," she told me, "you understand a lot more then most your age. I'm told that you're actually a lot like your mother in that respect."

My eyes traveled to over where my mother was chatting with Lissa and Tori, all the while keeping one eye on me. I shook my head and smiled, before turning back to Kiti, "and I'm proud of it." I then excused myself and made my way to where my friends were sitting.

The next morning on the plane I was stuck sitting next to Lexie. We were both quiet, even when Emilie and Kyle both tried engaging us in one conversation or another. When the seat belt light came on, I breathed a sigh of relief as they were forced to turn around in their seats. Slowly the plane was pushed back and started to taxi down the runway. I closed my eyes and gripped the arm rests as the engines revved. I didn't mind flying, just the take off really bothered me.

As we sped up and took off I felt a strong hand over mine, it gave me a gentle squeeze and stayed right there until we were in the air. Then, Lexie pulled his hand back. I grabbed at it though and gave it a squeeze myself.

I looked down at our two hands, my fingers intertwined in his, both sitting on the arm rest. I kept my hand there for a moment before speaking softly, hoping that no one else would here, "it won't work Lexie," I told him as I let go of his hand and placed my own back in my lap.

"Only because you won't let it," he told me sadly, "it could work," he insisted.

I smiled sadly and leaned my head against the plan window, looking out over the clouds that floated along beneath us. "You're right," I said finally, "I'll just end up hurting you Lexie," I said looking back at him, "I can't do that."

He just snorted and shook his head, "you don't know that Anna," he told me.

"Yes, I do Lexie," I told him firmly, "in five years, I'll be done school. I'll be someone's guardian and we'll barely see each other," my tone (to my surprise) was gentler now, "best you just find a Royal Moroi to turn your attentions too." I finished.

A look of disbelief crossed his features and I felt the pain and betrayal radiating from him, "I don't want a Royal Moroi Anna, I want you," he pleaded.

It was then that the seatbelt light went out. I undid my seatbelt and stood up, pushing my way pass him and into the aisle. I saw Aniya closer to the back, the seat beside her empty. I grabbed my book bag from the over head before whispering softly to Lexie, "sadly, life doesn't always give us what we want," and with that, I walked over to were Aniya was sitting, threw my bag up in the overhead and sat down. It was there that I waited out the rest of the flight, my mind and emotions churning.

**The end.**

** So, what did you think? Like or dislike? Let me know! This has been an interesting story to write, and I have enjoyed it. I'm a fan of second generation fics, but you just don't see them in the VA universe, I think maybe that's because Richelle Mead isn't done with it yet, so why should anyone else? Plus there are a lot of pairings that can be explored ECT ECT.**

** Anyways, I'm going to post the preview/summery for the next story in this series, but the jury is still out on weather I'm going to actually write it or not. The more people that tell me in reviews that they want to read it, the more likely I will write it. Just something to keep in mind.**

** Thank you to all my amazing readers! And especially those of you who have taken the time to review! I never would have completed the story without you, and that's a promise!**

**~Ceilidh.**


	15. Preview

**Life Lessons**

"_There are just somethings you can't go through without becoming friends afterwards."_

The Strigoi attack three years ago has done nothing to dampen Anna-Marie Ivashkov's determination to become a guardian. If anything, it has made her even more determined. And if life would just screw off and let her train and become one, then everything would be perfect.

Belinda Conta has joined their group, but two female Royal Moroi is causing friction. Belinda Conta isn't high ranking as far as Royals go, and Aniaya Dragomir is as high up the social ladder as they get. On top of that, Kyle Voda is refusing to even look at Belinda, he's still convinced it's her fault Miranda was killed.

On top of that, Anna's younger brother is becoming more protective of her and Lexie is refusing to see their relationship as a simple friendship. Despite all the reasons against it that Anna gives him, he still wants to give it a shot.

Emilie is really the only one who hasn't changed. She's also the one who suggested Anna join her family on their annual trip to Baia, Russia. To which Anna is surprised her parents agree.

While in Baia, everything Anna thought she knew, and thought she had figured out is going to be turned upside down. Especially when she's introduced to Emilie's hot cousins, Alexander, Stepan and Adrik, all of who are older, and all of who have graduated.

Her life after school was planned out, and now after being dropped into the center of the Bloodwhore culture, Anna isn't so sure. There isn't anyone for her to talk to here, at least no one with out a little bias.

A phone call to Lexie one night after a bout of homesickness turns out to be eye opening, and leaves Anna thinking, what if she's wrong?

The next time though, the mention of a high ranking member of the Zeklos clan (who happens to be female) visiting the court, which Lexie is showing around, leaves her wondering, what if she's too late?

_There's one sad truth in life I've found  
While journeying east and west -  
The only folks we really wound  
Are those we love the best.  
We flatter those we scarcely know,  
We please the fleeting guest,  
And deal full many a thoughtless blow  
To those who love us best.  
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox_


End file.
